TRADE FAIR
PLAYTIME PARıS
Sticking to its course , Playtime has just achieved a
NEW RECORD !
At the dawn of its 20th edition , Playtime Paris chose the theme of ‘ Marvelous ’ for its gathering of professionals from the children ’ s and maternity universes .
This 19th edition gathered over 500 collections (+ 11 % more than last winter ), two thirds of which came from abroad , covering all of the children ’ s and maternity universes ( 71 % children ’ s fashion , 21 % design and layette , 8 % maternity ).
Around one hundred brands exhibited at Playtime for the first time , and for some of them , it was the launch of their very first children ’ s collection ( à l ’ ombre les enfants , carrousel & bazaar , dancing in the grass , de cavana , gosaoaky , howlin , minois paris , wynken , see concept , sawa shoes , sways ,... ).
Exceptionally , the trade fair started one day later ( from Sunday to Tuesday ) in order to allow some of our visitors to organize back-to-back visits with Playtime and Pitti Bimbo in Florence , Italy . This shift resulted in a whopping 2684 visitors on Sunday January 24 , an alltime record number of attendees for one day . In all , over three days , the fair had 7457 professional visitors .
In spite of the recent events that pushed numerous visitors , particularly from Asia and North America , to cancel their trip to France , we noted a strong increase in foreign visitors for a rise of 8 points over January 2015 ( 57 % vs . 49 %), thereby surpassing , for the first time ever , the percentage of French buyers . Well anchored in the international scene for several seasons now , Playtime thus became the most international European professional trade fair , an undeniable advantage in a difficult national economic context .
In terms of details , European buyers made up the top contingent of visitors , in front of the French , the Asians and the Americans . And , although their
numbers were smaller , several prestigious sales points in the Middle East and Australia were also present .
Finally , thanks to a strong communication campaign and continuous prospection efforts , the trade fair managed to attract a high proportion of new buyers , representing just as many development opportunities for the exhibitors .
Beyond sheer numbers , this edition will also go down as a formidable source of inspiration for professionals , who were able to discover :
• The 3 children ’ s trend spaces put together by our trend-setter Julie Malait which presented the themes of ‘ Winter Wonderland ’, ‘ Frozen Landscapes ’ and ‘ Surreal utopia ’ designed , respectively , by artists Odette Picaud , Brigitte Amarger , and Hélène B . Caperna .
• A selection of accessories from Marie-Claire Enfant Magazine presented in vitrines in the 2 rest areas of the fair .
• The winners of 4 prizes given by the editors of Milk magazine ( the Best Fashion prize for wolf & rita , the Shoes prize for pom d ’ api , the Design prize to camomile london and the Must-Have prize for the combination of fox prints from hello simone ).
• The Carlin trend office contributed a detailed spotlight on the ‘ Textures ’ that future mothers will be wearing , in the trend space designed by artist Zoé Landry situated in that sector of the show .
144 MAY / JUN 2016