SHOWTIME: With a trade show during men’s off the cards at least in the short term, Tranoï is looking to make its mark felt on the Paris schedule in other ways. Last week it debuted the Tranoï Showcase format, through which it hopes to offer emerging designers visibility during Paris Fashion Week.
On Thursday evening, the trade-show organizer staged Tokyo Fashion Showcase, a runway show for eight Japanese designers showing for the first time in France, and an exhibition of the work of two more, at the Palais de la Bourse.
“There is no sales dimension to the project, it’s purely an artistic, creative exercise to highlight the new guard of Japanese creation on the international stage,” explained Tranoï general manager Boris Provost.
After canceling its men’s edition last summer, Tranoï is no longer planning to present a trade show during Paris Men’s Fashion Week. Its March edition for women is still on track, however, and will run from March 6 to 9 at the Bourse. The first edition of Tranoï Tokyo in September was also a resounding success, Provost claimed, and that was where the inspiration for the first Tranoï Showcase came to life.
The young labels showing were all winners of the Next Fashion Designer of Tokyo and Sustainable Fashion Design Award competitions, and the initiative was hosted in partnership with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. They were selected for their avant-garde design stance or their sustainability focus.
The labels and designers showing on the runway were Notsuki by Natsuki Maruyama, Kookaburra by Naoko Kawamura, New Yota by Yohta Naruse, Jun Kawamoto, Kenta Nakajima, SoMe by Ryoto Someya, JiJi by Iori Matsumoto and Hikari Takayama. Designs from Aresamakoresama by Rin Inoue and Mea by Eto Chura were exhibited at the entrance, meanwhile.
