The WHO’S NEXT and PREMIERE CLASSE trade shows held in Paris – Porte de Versalles, presenting the F/W 2011 collections, ended last Tuesday January 25th. Altogether, 54,182 buyers entered hall 1, showing a 4% rise in the attendance compared with January 10. Especially noticeable this session, the strong French (+2.1%) and international (+6.7%) attendance: 65% for France (35,030 visitors) and 35% for the rest of the world (19,152 visitors). With increases ranging from +13 to +24%, the Italians, Spanish, Belgians and Japanese have showed their commitment to the trade show.
In January 2010, attendance had been limited to 52,258 visitors (including FASHION PASS visitors).
Key figures and information:
Pick in the attendance on Sunday with 19,448 visitors, followed by Saturday (18,278 visitors), Monday and Tuesday.
France
Once again, the French provinces were very well represented at both trade shows: 21,486 visitors, i.e. 3.5% more than January 10 and 61% of the French global attendance. The Paris and Paris region attendance remains unchanged with 13,544 visitors (-0.2%).
Europe
European buyers (France excepted) rank first, accounting for 77.5% of the international attendance at both trade shows, i.e. 14 850 visitors.
Italy takes the lead once again, accounting for most of the foreign attendance with 4,052 visitors (+21%), followed by Spain: 2 286 visitors (+23.3%) and Belgium: 1,848 visitors (+13.4%). Rise in the attendance for the following countries too, United Kingdom: +7.5% (1 030 visitors), Switzerland: +20.8% (i916 visitors) and Germany: +26.7% with 882 visitors.
Asia
Asia remains the 2nd most represented continent accounting for 12% of the international attendance with 2,304 buyers, i.e. a 17.7% growth. Japan remains the 4th most represented foreign country at both trade shows. The attendance shows a noteworthy 16.7% growth compared to January 10, with 1,456 visitors (i.e. 7.6% of international attendance). China and Hong Kong almost doubled their figures with 392 buyers (+40%). while Korea showed a 10.6% drop in attendance (220 buyers).
America
The American attendance dropped slightly (-3.2%) with 848 visitors. After the spectacular rise in attendance in January 10, the U.S. show a 6.3% drop with 386 buyers. Canada also shows a slight decrease with 190 buyers (- 4%). The same goes for Brazil with a 25.6% drop (i.e. 70 buyers).
Middle East
WHO’S NEXT & PREMIERE CLASSE are still taking advantage of the buzz generated by the MIDDLE EAST FASHION DAYS organized since October 09 in Dubai. The most compelling proof: a 26.5% rise in the Middle Eastern attendance (706 buyers, i.e. 3.7% of the foreign attendance). Leading buyers from Lebanon were especially present, followed by Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Africa
Africa represents 1.6% of the international attendance with 310 visitors. A slight 1.3% drop compared with the same session last year.
Oceania
The Australian, Caledonian, Neo-Zealand and Polynesian attendance showed a 6.3% rise with134 visitors.