PARIS — In a challenged context for intimate apparel, the industry’s annual gathering in Paris at the Salon International de la Lingerie, had exhibitors playing it safe with their winter 2026 collections.
Brands were building out growing categories like shapewear and ready-to-wear, and homing in on their DNA to bolster storytelling at the fair, which ran from Jan. 17 to 19. All of this was intended to help their core clientele, multibrand boutiques, weather the ongoing storm at retail.
French lingerie sales dipped 2.6 percent to 2.01 billion euros in the eight months to October, according to data from Kantar for the Salon International de la Lingerie. On the global market, although brands cited pockets of growth category-wise and regionally, sales last year were estimated to be down 3 to 5 percent.
Lackluster business sentiment had a knock-on effect on collections showing. “Because we’re in a period when the market wants to offer reassurance, the brands have played it safe when it comes to the color palette. There’s a real return to black, nude and white,” said trend forecaster Vanessa Causse, a consultant for show organizer WSN.
Shapewear, bodies, athleisure pieces and loungewear are among categories doing well, and this was reflected in the offer. “While bras still represent the bulk of the market, bodies are trending strongly,” Causse said. “The real innovation this season is more in materials — with people seeking comfort and self-confidence and body positivity, with products that make them feel reassured, the collections show a lot of mesh and lightweight lace that doesn’t enclose the body too much.”
Raphaël Camp, chief executive officer of Comexposium U.S., the producer of SIL’s sister show Curve, said, “Mass-market brands like Skims are bringing a lot of visibility to the shapewear category, which is having a halo effect on other brands.”
Products bridging intimates and ready-to-wear also continued to gain significance. “The big trend that’s continuing is the combination of innerwear and outerwear, which started in California, and put lingerie on show, and is bringing visibility to the category,” Camp said.
Several exhibitors reported strong sales in categories like bodies, which are trending strongly among young consumers, and lace-edged silk slips and tops.
Regionally speaking, several players cited strong growth in the Middle East, especially at the top end of the market. “We recently opened a store in the Dubai Mall, which is performing extremely well, especially for seductive styles and nightwear,” said Simone Pérèle brand and product director Stéphanie Bujard Pérèle. “For consumers there, price is no object and they buy in volume.”
The heritage brand registered growth in a down market last year, she said, but with significant contrasts in performance by distribution channel. “Our own retail and digital grew significantly, whereas wholesale was down,” said Bujard Pérèle. “With everything that’s happening with department stores, we need to build our presence with independent retailers, and accompany them to give more visibility to the brand.”
Among the French corsetry majors that were the biggest exhibitors at SIL, rebranding efforts over the past couple of years appear to be paying off.
Chantelle, for instance, has modernized its image and shifted to a master-brand strategy instead of its former multibrand portfolio. “We grew 5 percent last year on a market that was down between 3 and 5 percent,” said chief creative and brand officer Renaud Cambuzat, who has spearheaded the company’s shift.
The company celebrates its 150th anniversary this year with a fun ad campaign spotlighting styles across the decades. On its stand, the company highlighted a more pared back, romantic image for high-end line Chantelle X, animal prints and rose motifs and a small ready-to-wear and loungewear capsule within the Chantelle Pulp line, Cambuzat said.
Aubade has also been reworking its storytelling. Former brand manager and 25-year company veteran Claire Masson was named general manager last year. She is implementing a return to a positioning built on seduction, but through a female empowerment lens, with a new tagline “Live your seduction.” Aubade’s new logo, debuted at the show, references the well-known strapping details of its designs, the curves of the female form and the structure of the Eiffel Tower.
“We are shifting the focus back to the product itself and its alchemy with the image,” Masson said. “We can feel the market shift, with the codes of what’s seen as ‘sexy’ changing.” Key colors in the fall 2026 collection were plum, navy blue and forest green, which Masson described as “false blacks” or colors that attract the eye but remain reassuring for consumers. Bodies and ready-to-wear are a growing part of the offer.
“There are some beautiful jewel tones in the collections this season,” said Larisa Olsen, owner of Chantilly Lace in Wilmette, Ill. “We’re trying to be open to maybe veering off our palette that we know works and experimenting, but it’s always a leap of faith.”
After 10 years in the market focusing on “practical, approachable but elevated,” lingerie, she is seeking to bring her customers toward “things that are higher quality and with more sophisticated designs,” she said. “We’re starting to see them evolving toward prettier things.”
While tariffs were weighing on her purchasing decisions, she praised a number of vendors for working to absorb increased costs. “We’re all in the same boat, and we have to work together and make it work,” she said.
High-end corsetry specialist Lise Charmel has been focused on communicating its luxury positioning in partnership with retailers and bolstering its high-end fabrications. The company came close to bankruptcy during the pandemic and has significantly reviewed its business model, and has come a long way since. “We did well in 2025, our strategy of investing in creativity and innovation has been successful,” said managing director Olivier Piquet. “We have invested in customer experience and relationship building, and we are sharing our expertise with the more dynamic retailers that are interested in collaborating.”
The industry’s resilience was a hot topic of conversation, with several vendors saying the Saks Global bankruptcy was a significant concern for business Stateside. “Between tariffs and the situation with the department stores — Saks Global didn’t place any orders last year, and they were a major customer for a number of brands — it has been difficult,” said one leading brand executive.
While the context for lingerie retail remains challenging, with swathes of independent boutiques going under and uncertainty around department stores in both Europe and the U.S., for retailers that succeed in cultivating trust and community, there are opportunities for the taking, observers said. In France last year, specialist boutiques regained 2.6 percentage points in market share, while big-box stores lost share, according to Kantar data. “There is a lot of uncertainty in retail; independent stores are closing as their owners retire with no-one to take over,” Camp said.
Maison Lejaby returned for a second edition since it was bought out of bankruptcy protection in 2024, with managing director Xavier Martin keen to reassure both suppliers and retailers the brand is back for the long-term. “We needed to earn back the trust of our raw-materials suppliers and the confidence of retailers,” Martin said. “We’re still working with small quantities for the moment, but we have developed a full collection and permanent stock.…Our customers are satisfied and sellout is good.” With olive green and purple designs, Maison Lejaby was bucking the sobriety trend.
On the supplier side at Interfilière, heritage mills were also keen to highlight their resilience. Circular knitting specialist Bugis’ CEO Bruno Nahan, who is also president of the French Federation of Knitwear, Lingerie and Swimwear, bought out historic luxury fabric mills Guigou and Sfate & Combier via his BNG Investissements vehicle last year, and was showcasing their expertise.
Innovation in shapewear was particularly visible at SIL. Historic specialist Wacoal introduced the Flawless line, with new technologies like ultrasound bonding, which removes the need for glue or seams, and its thinnest shapewear fabrics, offered in a range of forms.
Simone Pérèle’s biggest launch for 2026 was also a new shapewear line, called Bodies, with four different support strengths and designs bringing back to life a lace from its archives thanks to materials innovation. The designs are intended to be lightweight and comfortable yet supportive, and match with a range of bras from the label’s offer.
It too is seeking to home in on its specificities, with a new ad campaign debuting later this year featuring mothers and daughters and channeling the concept of transmission: The brand is now run by the grandchildren of its founder. “It’s about how we talk about heritage and elegance,” said Bujard Pérèle.
In loungewear, consumers are shopping for selfie-friendly solutions for in-home wear in luxurious fabrications and materials like silk and cashmere, as seen at U.K.-based Derek Rose, which celebrated its 100th anniversary at the show with a collection tapping into its British heritage. Among the launches for loungewear, Chantelle introduced a range of lightweight bras intended for relaxing at home.
Hosiery and socks are also performing well and seeing a return to creativity as consumers put them on show, exhibitors reported, a trend highlighted by The Lycra Company in its innovation and trend report for the coming year.
“Socks are making a big comeback, in new lightweight materials and designed to be put on show. It’s a way of adding accessible pieces that create a link between ready-to-wear and lingerie,” said the trend forecaster Causse.
French mass-market hosiery specialist DIM, which was bought by U.S. investment firm Regent in 2022, was back at the show after an absence of 13 years as it seeks to expand outside its home turf.
“Hosiery has suffered a lot with homeworking since the pandemic, but we are seeing renewed demand in the category, with the desire for more fashion-oriented products, more decorative designs and more colors, as well as our recent innovations in fleece-lined tights,” said Jean-Raphaël Hetier, DIM vice president, France and Benelux.
Among newer, creative brands showing, the hybridization of categories showed. Ecole Duperré graduate Léonie Mauchant presented skirt-pantyhose hybrids made from mesh. The product can be worn in a number of ways — below the knee, ruffled up or even as a bustier — and worked well for on-trend layered looks.
Spain-based Nube Lightwear founder Justine Parisien showcased her quirky custom girdle skirts and tabi stockings, all made-to-measure from sheer mesh and ultra-fine lace and sewn by hand.
Le Boudoir Los Angeles, meanwhile, created by Clémence Pariente, presented colorful frilled panties made from deadstock fabrics, and picked up orders from major accounts in New York and London. Pariente created her brand out of frustration: She couldn’t find panties that combined the aesthetics, comfort and fit she desired, so she decided to create her own.
With her Echo Park boutique of the same name, which stocks only women-owned brands, Pariente is cultivating what many retailers are trying to articulate in a complex market — building a community around their stores and a safe space where women feel comfortable, at home and most of all, where they trust staff to offer the service and advice so key to the intimates category. “I try all of the brands personally, and I like to be able to tell the story of the brand and advise like I’m talking to my best friend,” Pariente said.
Alongside the show, Austria’s Huber Group presented a new, more contemporary image for its historic high-end brand Huber as it looks to scale international business, as well as an artist collaboration with Brazilian artist Romulo Kuranyi for its younger brand Skiny, and the continued rebuilding of British brand Gossard, which has been well-received since its relaunch last year. “The market is challenging, but if you have comfortable, good-looking, reliable products, they are still very well-received,” said Martina Brown, in charge of strategic project management and new business at Huber Holding.
