Jill of All Trade Shows: Trade show organizer WSN is bolstering its offer with a new event dedicated to collaborations, unique pieces and limited editions.
Set to hold its first edition from Oct. 2 to 5, coinciding with the spring 2027 Paris Fashion Week, “Jill” is billed as an experiential trade show that will be hosted within the Premiere Classe, with an off-site cultural circuit to boot.
The first two days will be dedicated to professionals and the final two will also be open to the public, who will be able to make purchases from exhibitors.
“I am delighted with the launch of Jill, which provides a new gateway to creativity within Premiere Classe,” said Frédéric Maus, chief executive officer of WSN, in a statement shared first with WWD. “We make it a point of honor to explore new territories and bring different communities together. Jill will offer visitors new creative ideas in line with consumer desires.”
Over a dozen brands are slated to take part in the inaugural edition, including Rabih Kayrouz, Belgian designer Jean-Paul Lespagnard and Christine Phung.
Meanwhile, Jill’s cultural program will unfurl across locations such as the Pierre Passebon gallery, which will host a fashion exhibition; the spaces of French Iranian designer and architect India Mahdavi; The Pill, an art gallery near the Palais Royal, and the Ofr library.
The event, which owes its name to a magazine launched in the 1980s by Babeth Djian, is under the artistic direction of Jean-Pierre Blanc, the founder of the International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Accessories of Hyères.
He called Jill “an extraordinary adventure in Paris, within WSN, after 40 years of festivals, supporting young designers and a total passion for fashion” and “a time of creativity dedicated to buyers, professionals, collectors, journalists, fashion enthusiasts, students, artisans, artists and the public — who are all welcome.”
Blanc, a vocal supporter of emerging design, stepped down last year as managing director and subsequently left the Villa Noailles association that organizes the festival, after it became embroiled in controversy over spending and outstanding invoices.
WSN organizes trade shows Premiere Classe and Matter & Shape, which coincide with Paris Fashion Week, as well as Who’s Next, Bijorhca, Curve Paris and Interfilière Paris later in the year. It added the Run hybrid model, in partnership with ANDAM, for young brands which will be part wholesale showroom and part runway fashion show space.
