I have been fortunate enough to be able to visit Premiere Vision this year in Paris, a trade show that I have been wanting to attend for some time. It was everything i had expected and more and, I thoroughly enjoyed the visit. The show was much larger than I have expected with 6 halls filled with suppliers. I researched which companies were going to be attending prior to arriving and downloaded the app for the event. On this I could select the companies I wanted to see the stands of and it would bookmark them. I could then select to view where they were within the show and it would show on the map exactly where their stand was. There were so many different suppliers that I decided I had to be specific about who I was most interested in potentially seeing and for me this was textile studios and embroidery design suppliers. I am happy to say that I was able to speak to most of the companies I had wanted to meet and was also able to secure contacts to get in touch with regards to potential work opportunities in the future.

An area I wanted to look at was how the studios presented themselves and their work at a studio so that I could get a better idea of how I might present myself and my work. I was looking to see how they finished their samples which ranged from rolled hems to simply being cut which, caused a lot of fraying to the designs. I had also noticed some studios presented their samples on headed cards about A3 in size where as others created garment shapes. Speaking to one of the studios, I inquired as to whether they found this made any difference and they felt it would hinder their work as clients would struggle to see the design being used for anything other than that shape. Another studio that was producing exclusively embroidery and embellishment designs felt however that it was necessary to help buyers see how the design could be used. I could see shaping working for some designs, especially when they are created for the neckline so perhaps it is something I could consider for certain design ideas.

I got the chance to look up close at some of the designs as ask about what techniques they were using. I was surprised to hear that one of the studios was already using 3D printing which I was told is big in the China market. A lot of the embroidery was clearly machine stitched but there were some interesting hand embellished pieces where techniques had been pushed. There were also a range of styles on show, floral's were the most common designs on display but i did see some more abstract and conversational embellishment designs. One studio also provided designs in a few colourways for clients to see, I hadn't thought this was needed but i was informed that some buyers struggle to see past the colours the design is presented in at the show. Looking at these highlighted how studios had grouped their collections too with many creating stories containing 8-10 designs. Some were grouped based on colour and others on what their content was for example floral's or geometric designs. This is something I could consider in my work as I am starting to find that it looking a bit separated at times. Its also encouraging to see the use of new techniques with studios showing how they can push ideas to create something original.