PARIS — With Pharrell Williams’ celebrity extravaganza at Louis Vuitton, the Fête de la Musique and the Pride parade, Paris was in feel-good mode through the recent men’s collections and the trade shows were no exception, with buyers and types largely upbeat for spring 2024.

Tranoï took place on the Gaïté Lyrique, a former concert hall on the sting of the Marais that just reopened as a cultural center aiming to bridge creative industries, where the trade show has signed for 3 seasons through 2024, when pressure on venues can be particularly tight because of the Paris Olympics.

With 50 exhibitors this session, the space has the opportunity of expanding further for future editions, said Tranoï chief executive officer Boris Provost. In addition to a runway show for South Korean designers under the trade show’s partnership with Seoul Fashion Week — a primary during men’s — the show was also the venue for the primary Paris presentation from Bed J.W. Ford on June 25.

“We would like to ascertain the Gaïté Lyrique as a spot for fashion events, during and outdoors fashion week,” Provost explained.

Because the show continues to shift toward an edgier offer during men’s collections, it highlighted the brand new wave of designers offering genderless collections and pieces more traditionally related to the “feminine” wardrobe.

This was the topic of a conference held on the primary day of the show, where consulting firm Leherpeur presented the findings of a study into latest consumption habits, noticeably amongst Gen Z consumers. “It’s a real mutation,” said Leherpeur Paris director of strategy and forecasting Sabrina Pelissier. “Wearing items traditionally related to the ladies’s wardrobe is not any longer a subject of gender definition.”

“It’s very necessary today to be mixed, we don’t have barriers,” said designer Armine Ohanyan, who habitually shows at Tranoï during women’s and was presenting a genderless collection for the primary time. “I actually have many male buyers,” she said — confirming that younger generations don’t stand on ceremony in the case of which way a shirt fastens, for instance.

As on the runways, there have been skirts aplenty on show for men, but in a more understated register that retailers were trying to tap into the trend — via an expanded color palette, enhanced embellishment and softened-up styling that offered something fresh to the menswear wardrobe.

Bruno and Marie-Jo Serer, with three Phenomene stores in Aix-en-Provence and Sanary-sur-Mer within the south of France, praised the evolution at Tranoï. “We used to return to Tranoï often, but the way in which it had evolved didn’t suit our customer,” said Bruno Serer. “We’re finding the offer quite a bit more interesting again; it’s wonderful to see a return of creativity.”

On the show, there was also a latest collaboration with Berlin Showroom and an area with five designers from Portugal under a partnership with Portugal Fashion, and two brands from China attending due to a memorandum of understanding signed with the China Fashion Association.

Over at Man, known for its business proposition and more contemporary positioning, there was a marked shift toward more structured silhouettes and fewer streetwear. “People have had enough of logos; there’s definitely a return to dressier styles,” said Man/Woman cofounder and director Antoine Floch.

Buyers praised the shift, in addition to a muted yet colourful palette and latest fabrications and embellishments injecting something fresh into men’s wardrobes. “We’re stepping away from neutrals. All these dusty pastel colours are very business; it signals summer nevertheless it’s not too loud,” said Arnault Castel, owner of the Kapok chain in Hong Kong, shopping at Man. “I feel we’re stepping out of purely outdoorsy looks and on the lookout for something dressier.”

For buyers either from the U.S. or with currencies pegged to the U.S. dollar — as is the Hong Kong dollar — it was a superb time for shopping from European brands, he said. With Hong Kong, like Japan, one in every of the last to emerge from the restrictions of the pandemic, “we’re in a honeymoon period; we should be careful to not overbuy,” he said.

For Japanese exhibitors — who made a serious return at Man, with a show-in-show from trade event Jumbo bringing a collection of brands for the primary time since before the pandemic — the weak yen was also offering advantageous trading conditions, said Masato Tsuchiya, an agent representing 4 brands including his own collection Sillage, which had seen strong demand.

“Everybody likes Japanese products, because they know the standard,” said Tsuchiya. “People will not be stressed concerning the prices. Even with taxes, the costs are reasonable since the yen is weak.”

Nevertheless, money flow represents possibly the largest challenge for independent brands and retailers alike in the mean time, said Floch. This, nevertheless, was actually favoring emerging and independent designers showing in Paris, he said.

“Individuals are really listening to their travel expenses, meaning they’re specializing in spending every week in Paris, as a substitute of traveling to all the opposite cities too,” said Floch.

HIGHLIGHTS AT THE PARIS TRADE SHOWS

ErEvan

Showing at: Tranoï

Story: Buzzy young French brand ErEvan, hailing from Saint-Tropez and founded by Evan Morello in 2021, has carved its place with its relaxed wardrobe built around updated vintage military and sailing silhouettes, made with high-end fabrics sourced in Europe and Japan. After establishing a footprint through its own stores — first in Saint-Tropez, where it attracts a powerful international clientele, and more recently in Paris — the label is opening as much as wholesale. Initially centered on men’s cuts designed to be unisex, the label also unveiled its first capsule of specific women’s silhouettes.

Core price range: 180 to 500 euros (retail)

Mo Studio

Showing at: Tranoï

Story: Chilean designer Magdalena Olazábal created her genderless label in 1997, manufacturing her own fabrics, with 60 percent made with recycled remnants and clothing. All the pieces within the range is one size and designed to supply a versatility of the way to wear, with distinctive design twists that add interest to the silhouette.

Price range: 100 to 400 euros (retail)

Ekivoc

Showing at: Tranoï

Story: A product manager at A.P.C., two years ago Baptiste Guerin launched his own brand Ekivoc, offering a sublime bridge between sportswear and tailoring and native sourcing. Highlights in his sharp yet easy lineup included smartened up high-waist skater shorts and gabardine jackets with distinctive metallic hardware, in addition to T-shirts crafted from French-knit fabric.

Price range: 150 to 700 euros (retail)

Handred

Showing at: Tranoï

Story: Rio de Janeiro-based André Namitala created his 11-year-old brand when he was just 19, offering soft, loose tailoring with an inventive twist in high-end fabrics like silk, linen and cashmere. The label has a powerful following in Brazil, including its own retail. Internationally, the brand is currently stocked by Farfetch and is now opening as much as international wholesale. The spring 2024 collection features a collaboration with multimedia artist Vivian Caccuri, with dancing silhouettes moving between sound waves to form an abstract print on suiting and windchimes adorning the hem of an announcement vest.

Core price range: 370 to 800 euros (retail)

Baziszt

Showing at: Tranoï

Story: All the time an avid drawer, self-taught designer Zied Ben Amor worked as a statistician before deciding to create his own brand in 2021, specializing in embellished shirts in high-end fabrics like silk, hemp, bamboo and organic cotton, embroidered or painted by hand. Launched in 2021, the brand has cultivated something of a celeb following in France and is stocked at L’Eclaireur and Boys Don’t Cry. “I wanted to interrupt the foundations,” said Ben Amor. “I used to be fed up with the dress codes of the banking world.” He decided to center his brand on men’s — even though it also has female customers — because he felt that he could offer something latest within the space. “In women’s, all the pieces has been said already, and the term ‘unisex’ is so overused.”

Price range: 350 to 650 euros (retail)

Value

Showing at: Tranoï

Story: French designer Valentine Gauthier, who has carved an area in womenswear along with her masculine-inspired silhouettes, is taking a turn within the menswear universe with the launch of Value. “We would like to interrupt down the notion of gender to provide men more freedom,” said the designer, who teamed with photographer Hervé Coutin to create the brand new label. “Women have long dipped into the lads’s wardrobe; there isn’t any reason for the alternative to not be the case. The concept is to supply more creativity.” With softened-up tailored silhouettes and a warm color palette, around 80 percent of production is finished within the Paris region with a deal with high-end fabrics and rigorous sourcing.

Price range: 280 to 730 euros (retail)

Countrymade

Showing at: Tranoï

Story: Hailing from India, Sushant Abrol cut his teeth under designers including couturier Rohit Bal, and together with his Countrymade label, launched in 2019, made GQ’s 2023 list of India’s most influential people under 35. Countrymade is inspired by the lack of his brother, who was within the armed forces, in a plane crash, and he combines military references with a vocation to update and preserve heritage techniques like embroidery and batik. His sharply tailored silhouettes present graphic motifs like barren landscapes, train tracks and barbed wire inspired by the landscape of no man’s land, embroideries evoking a postcard sent home, and prints and wrinkles representing the ravages of war on mental health. Sustainability is a key aspect of his ethos, supporting women locally by offering them work and using matka silk, made only from pierced cocoons, meaning no silkworms are killed.

Price range: 120 to 650 euros (retail).

Monostereo

Showing at: Man

Story: Vintage-inspired Monostereo, based in Los Angeles,is the brainchild of Mowgli Surf cofounder Alex Seastrom and former Urban Outfitters executive Colby Black. Presenting their third season — for the primary time internationally — they provide a unisex range with a lived-in feel and distinctive neo-hippie vibes. The brand works out of hand-painted garment specialist L.A. Air Line’s Los Angeles factory.

Price range: $65 to $595 (retail)

Nosakhari

Showing at: Man

Story: With a factory based in London’s Hackney neighborhood, designer Nosakhari Osadolor’s love for accessories as a way to specific individual style was the driving force to create his high-end leather goods label 10 years ago. Keen about craft and preserving ancestral techniques, the label also offers kits so customers could make their very own accessories. Highlights within the spring 2024 collection included a crossbody bag in forest green calfskin and the brand’s signature Djembe pouches.

Price range: 295 to 1,100 kilos (retail)

Guillermo Bravo

Showing at: Man

Story: Based out of Seattle, Paris first-timer Luis Velez centers on playful patchwork tailoring with fun details like detachable magnetic pockets inspired by the Rionegro area of Colombia, where he grew up. After studying jazz and soul music, it was a passion for sneakers that originally pushed Velez to re-train, firstly in footwear design, then in apparel, before launching his brand, named for his parents and now in its second season.

Price range: $75 to $400 (retail)