Man trade show cancels Paris edition but confirms New York’s

By

Olivier Guyot

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Jan 6, 2022

On Thursday, another Parisian trade show cancelled its forthcoming edition: the organisers of Man have decided to throw in the towel, following the announcement on Wednesday by international lingerie fair SIL, and also those by Welcome Editions and Maison&Object at the end of December. Man features premium men’s ready-to-wear and accessories brands, and was scheduled to be held again at the Vendôme Pavilion in central Paris on January 21-23. Its previous sessions were disrupted by the pandemic, forcing the organiser to join forces with its peer WSN Développement, and to showcase a number of French brands at the Parc des Tuileries venue in Paris with the Première Classe show. Man’s January 2022 edition was the chance to put the show back on the Parisian event map, with a smaller number of exhibitors this time, about 60 in total.

“This year we are celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Man/Woman shows,” said event co-founder and director Antoine Floch. “In normal times, 80% of both our exhibitors and visitors come from outside France. In mid-December, several Asian and American brands began to warn us that they would not able to come. Japan, for example, has considerably tightened the quarantine conditions for travellers. With the number of daily cases rising, many exhibitors with a close connection to the show expressed their concern earlier this week. This session was meant to be a show of optimism. I could not see myself staging it with some 15 French exhibitors and about one hundred visitors. What's positive is that most brands have confirmed that they have simply postponed their presence to the next session,” added Floch.

The anniversary celebrations are therefore likely to take place for the event’s women's counterpart, with the Woman show scheduled on March 4-6, still at the Vendôme Pavilion.

In the meantime, barring a change in plans in the next few days, Floch intends to go ahead with Man’s New York edition, at a venue located at 52 Walker Street, showcasing the collections of brands coming chiefly from Europe.

“We did a poll just before the holiday season and we had 400 responses from our network about their intentions for January. US buyers have been forced to decide not to travel to Europe, but they expect to be present in New York. We were planning to feature about 20 brands, and about 15 labels are still ready to come and present their products for the Fall/Winter 2022. Since [US] buyers cannot come to Europe, we will enable them to see the collections [in New York],” said Floch.

In parallel, Floch and his staff are preparing to offer advisory services to labels, and are renovating the premises of Small at 19 rue Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth, near place de la République in Paris, to transform it into a fashion showroom and a venue showcasing the work of artists, musicians and writers.