The Show Behind the Shows

The Premiere Vision fabric show is kind of like a crystal ball for the fashion future. by Juliette Dominguez


Even the fashion world’s most talented and visionary designers, the Alexander McQueens, Oscar de la Rentas, John Gallianos and Tom Fords, have to get their inspiration from somewhere for all those delicious new collections. And it’s far more practical and pedestrian than you might imagine.

Twice a year, the world’s top design houses dispatch their fabric teams to Paris, to scour the Première Vision fabric trade shows for the swatches they’re going to build their next collections around. “For me, fabric is 90 percent of the mental work in design,” said Miuccia Prada at the shows last spring. “It’s where I spend most of my time, because the quality of the fabric is fundamental. When I get the fabric done, the show is done. I am at ease.”

Jill Stuart also looks to Première Vision and their 800-odd exhibitors as a starting point for her designs. “It’s the huge fabric show in Paris,” she said. “It’s incredible. All my fabrics are from Italy, London and France. I usually start with the fabrics, and get inspiration from there, like the colors and stories.”

premierevision Naturally, Première Vision is the most elitist of the fabric trade shows. Since its inception in 1973, it has considered itself a springboard for designers’ ideas. It literally acts as a crystal ball for what you will see on the runway in 12 months. As former Première Vision president, Robert Brochier, once said, “We are the world’s best-kept secret. We prepare the highway of fashion. We provide direction – we never dictate.”

Première Vision also prides itself on being a showcase for the most innovative of fabrics. “There were fabrics that we have never seen before here,” said the show’s fashion director, Pascaline Wilhelm. “In the past there have often been references to a period, the 1930s or 40s. But this year has been extremely strong in innovation.” Some of the fabrics you’ll be seeing more of in 2008 – new-generation knits made of metallic threads, pearly glazes, oily-look wools and metallic denims.

What else can we expect to see this year? Sabine Le Chatelier, the associate fashion director for Première Vision, confidently predicted that the baggy, “superfluous look” of 2007 would be replaced by elegant tailoring, clean lines, bold colors and detailed prints – and all evidence so far shows that she is right on target. The show also offers an official “color card” for the coming season and this year’s guide predicts a neutral palette of oatmeal, sand and stone. “We loved all the muted colors, the whites with the beiges, the heather tones,” said Tina Lutz of Lutz & Patmos, who will now incorporate those soft hues into their ’08 collection of cashmeres and knits.

And it’s not just the top design houses that use Première Vision. Abercrombie & Fitch, Talbot’s and Macy’s also send teams to shape their new collections, as do clothing outlets of nearly every price point and style. Bebe’s fabric designer Mayren Viray was pleased with the fabrics he saw at the spring 2007 show. “For prints, there are new geometrics, small and big, which play together. We’ll see a lot of bright colors, like emerald, bright red, fuchsia and new color combinations, like pairing neon pink or neon yellow with neutrals,” she said.

Lela Rose, whose designs are stocked at Bergdorf Goodman’s and Bloomingdales, says she is constantly invigorated by what she sees at Première Vision. “Fabrics are the hallmark of our collections,” she said. “The European mills are consistently coming up with unbelievable things.”

Fashion’s best-kept secret – mon dieu – is no more.

 


Juliette Dominguez is a freelance writer and author of Diving For Air. She contributes to Glamour, Vogue, Marie Claire and Dame magazines. Visit her website for more details www.JulietteDominguez.com.

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