Organisers and exhibitors pleased with Le Cuir A Paris

SIC Group, the organisers, were gratified by the positive reaction to the first edition of Le Cuir A Paris at the Porte de Versailles in early October and exhibitors professed themselves to be well satisfied. End of show figures showed 4,100 registrations over the three days and despite a number of stands packing up mid afternoon, as is usual at most fairs, a number of new visitors arrived on the last afternoon from Premier Vision out at Villepinte. To put the record straight, it must be pointed out this show is not another Semaine Internationale du Cuir. Nor was it ever intended to be. This is a preselection show for designers and manufacturers at the cutting edge of fashion who cannot wait until Bologna to begin creating their next collections. There was no intention of competing with Lineapelle, but the organisers of that show may regard things in a different light. The key points of Le Cuir A Paris were quality, speciality and originality with a sufficiently early date in the calendar to meet the needs of fashion creators. The show also provides a venue for garment manufacturers who are less well served by other events as well as shoe and leathergoods companies who are a cut above the rest. There were 251 exhibitor companies showing on 195 stands and these included top quality tanneries from France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, England, Ethiopia, Iceland, Türkiye, Ireland and the USA. In all there were companies from 19 different countries. And as a final touch of real luxury there were Saga Furs of Denmark who featured a purple mink chaise longue on their stand. As might be expected from a fashion preselection, there was a trend area featuring colour and texture predictions and this attracted a lot of interest. It is reported that 40% of the visitors were from overseas but a complete breakdown of the figures was not available at the time of going to press. Le Cuir A Paris is founded on the former twice yearly show PMF and, therefore, the next edition will be held from April 18-19, 2002. The event was staged in Hall 6 of the Porte de Versailles exhibition complex and unlike the halls of the past, is a modern, well-lit establishment up the incline behind Hall 5 with upward sloping travellators such as those used in airports to aid the visitor to his destination. These are positioned only a short distance inside the main gates with easy access to the metro.