Paris Salon International de la Lingerie: European Trends for A/W 2016

By Cora Harrington February 5, 2016 in fashion, featured, salon international de la lingerie, trends 8 comments

Disclosure: My flight and accommodation was paid for by Promosalons. All opinions regarding the Salon International de la Lingerie are my own.

Kunza Corsetorium + Gilda & Pearl

A few weeks ago, I had the incredible honor and privilege of being invited to Paris by Promosalons, the global network of French tradeshows, to visit some of their flagship exhibitions including Maison & Objet, Mode Who's Next, Bijorhca, and, of course, the Salon International de la Lingerie.

Me attempting to look chic.

At the French jewellry house, Mellerio dits Meller

Along with a delegation of journalists from the U.S., Korea, China, and Japan, I was taken on a whirlwind tour of what the Parisian luxury sector has to offer. From a guided tour of Hermes to a visit at one of the oldest jewelry houses in Paris to an audience with the French secretary for Foreign Trade, the Promotion of Tourism, and French Nationals Abroad, I was exposed to Parisian commerce and culture in a way I've never been before. It was an amazing, memorable experience, and I'm still in a bit of disbelief that it actually happened.

My Hermes visitor badge

From the meeting with the French Secretary

As the U.S. delegation's official representative for lingerie, I was able to spend most of an afternoon at the Salon International de la Lingerie. Longtime readers will know that's not my first visit to the Salon. Years ago, when lingerie bloggers going to tradeshows was still a very new thing, I had an interesting experience at the Porte de Versailles. But I'm happy to say this year's visit was completely different. Even with my special invitation aside, it seems like the tradeshow is more welcoming to bloggers in general, a welcome change since it's blogger who do the bulk of lingerie reporting.

The Salon International de la Lingerie

An antique Louis Vuitton lingerie case

There's so much I could say about my visit, but I imagine it's the lingerie you want to hear most about. Unfortunately, since the show is so big (it is really intimidatingly massive), and I didn't have the full three days to spend there, I didn't have time to walk the entire floor. However, I was able to visit most of the brands in the Limited Edition section (where the smaller, indie designers are grouped together), and I saw some extraordinary creations from both TLA favorites and brand new labels alike. Here a few of my standouts.