About 450 brands presented their F/W 15-16 at Playtime Paris last week, and nearly 100 were exhibiting for the very first time. Clothes, shoes, design…how was this edition and what are the names that created the buzz?

I missed my plane to Paris, so I had to use all the available technology to catch up with this 17th edition. With a mix of info taken from the organiser’s official report, Skype chats with top visitors, screening of photos shared on social media, I feel I was almost there. I just miss the real hugs and warm discussions I usually get when I walk the alleys, but I should be able to get all this again in July (next edition of Playtime Paris is scheduled for July 4-6 2015).

So, here’s for number lovers :

7478 professionals made the this 17th edition of Playtime Paris

Exhibitors :  1/3 French and 2/3 from abroad.

Visitors : 51% French and 49% from abroad.

Top 5 European countries : 1/ Spain 2/ Belgium 3/ UK 4/ Italy 6/ Netherland (One can start to wonder why Germany isn’t in that top 5. Any clue? That’s an interesting topic partly answered in that post)

Top 5 ex Europe countries : 1/ USA 2/ South Korea 3/ Japan 4/ China 5/ Russia  (and that’s no big surprise)

Prize Winners

Milk Magazine’s radar zoomed in on:

– Paade Mode, which won the editors’ Fashion Prize
– Ine De Haes, who was given the Must-have Prize for her first participation at Playtime
– Young Soles were awarded the Shoe Prize
– The Super Swing swing set by Marine Peyre won the Design Prize, presented within the fra- mework of the 3rd edition of the PlayWithDesign exhibition dedicated to children’s design

Sharing feedback

Linda McLean of Smudgetikka :
“The show very busy and had the usual high standard of exhibitors, Saturday was quiet but Sunday much busier.Not so much invention but lots of very beautiful offerings from established labels and a few new exhibitors. I really liked the collection of Ine De Haes from Belgium, she uses 3D effects on knitwear, fleece and wool jackets with incorporated backpacks. I also liked an interiors label La Cocotte and the really big and bobbly alpaca knits of Luisa et la Luna. I think it’s interesting how large the fair has grown in such a short space of time. There were 450 exhibitors this season and buyers are coming from all over the globe so it has become a great showcase for new brands to present themselves to the international market.”

Faigy Drew of Drew-New York, a show room that represent brands such as GRO, Pèpè, LIHO, Amelia…): “After walking the aisles of Playtime, we noticed that the styles and looks have changed a lot. Gone are the florals, and bright colors. Monochrome, many shades of greys, ivory, were very noticeable in the collections. We also noticed a lot of earth tones, which I personally love. Warm browns, gold, tans,… You get the picture. There were some new interesting collections as well. One of our best selling brands, LIHO presented at Playtime Paris for the first time, so we were excited about that.I felt that if I were a shop, I could have written some pieces from every collection at Playtime. We love the feel of Playtime. It’s nice that you don’t have to be a big brand in order to be successful. If you have a good eye for fashion, then you’re in business!”

Esther Van de Paal, co-Founder of Babyccino : “I think it was the best edition of Playtime, with lots of creativity, new cool brands and products, nice and positive vibes. It’s very hard to give a selection of names as they are so goods ones at the show.  I’d like to say a word about so many of them…but here’s to start with : Analiv, by a Danish who lives in the UK, I thought they had sweet new design – Ine De Haes, for the interesting 3D fabrics and graphics – HBBIA whose great knits are “very now” – Petites Pattes from the UK had sweet baby socks – Leoca, luxurious with quirky designs and colours – Ropachica from Spain, who made a collection for girls age 8 to 18; it’s nice to find such a nice brand on this age segment –  I loved Paade‘s new collection, dreamy, romantic, old fashioned with a twist. The designer has real talent – As we Grow for the beautiful colours – Macarons presented great strong green and yellows. I always like what they do, they really dare to explore new designs. The tights collection by Braveling was cute – Le Carrousel Paris, sweet and romantic – Marmar Copenhagen who also propose products for older children – Modeèrska Huset and their Sweedish, stretchy easy going cool prints – Yellow Pelota had a nice collections – Tiny cottons, a brand to watch as it is growing nicely – Luisa et la Luna for their beautiful, natural dyes, and big chunky giant knits for babies – I liked Velveteen‘s sparkly fabrics for boys – Chapter 2 and their very cool shoe collections, especially the sparkly golds and hairy leather –  Milk & Biscuit had a really good collection –  The stackable Playon Crayons by Studios Kinky were really cool and nice to hold with little hands – The shark sleeping bags by Baby Bites are fun – It was great to see Donna Wilson and Esthex at the show… I am sure I am missing many names I liked!”

Next step for Playtime?  Tokyo, from February 24 – 26 with 220 brands – New York, at the Metropolitan West, from February 28 to March 2, with 120 exhibitors. And again, Playtime Paris,  July 4 – 6, 2015.  See you there!

Playtime