Première Vision

At the start of February, I panicked and booked flights to Paris for PV, managing to drag my husband along with me. I've been a fair few times, and honestly, it's always touch and go. Sometimes it’s repetitive, sometimes it’s inspiring, and sometimes it’s so overwhelming you hate every second. This time, however, I’d describe it as... expected.

As always, I spent the majority of my time in Smart Creation - I love discovering the latest material innovations and meeting people in the industry, hearing how they started their journeys, and seeing their latest designs. This year, though, most booths felt very tech-focused: AI systems claiming to "solve all your business problems," 3D printing directly onto fabrics, and real-time visualisation tools. One thing I loved was the deadstock material section - perfect for ambitious students.

For those who couldn’t attend, I’m going to summarise my findings and highlight some new & exciting brands. Just a heads-up, I’m looking at this through an Accessories lens - there were so many more brands focused on RTW innovation.

Bio & Next Generation Materials

I did not notice any newness in terms of next gen brands, but I did find the focus for most brands was trying to achieve 90-100% bio based content (the rest is usually PU). I also think that this year there has been a major breakthrough in finishing, with more investment in achieving new embossings and alternate shines. Here are some of my highlights:

  1. Hydefy - An amazing team, who are so passionate about their product. They have an exciting launch with a major designer coming this year which is such great news. They use funghi found in the Yellowstone National Park & they have the BEST finishes inspired by the landscape.

  2. Oleatex - 90% bio materials in their leathers made from waste from the olive oil industry. Here you pick your base thickness and then a choice of different top finishes & embossings.

  3. Natuura - A brand that has been around a while, but is offering so many beautiful new leathers. They are rubber based, and offer a completely circular journey as they can recycle materials back into the next productions.

  4. Bio-Fluff - The only 100% plant based faux fur that comes in many different colours and textures. I have seen the Ganni Bao bag all over Instagram but it was so ncie to see the material in real life.

  5. La Tannerie Vegatale - These ones are a lot more rustic, with traditional leather colours achieving a ‘veg tanned’ feeling. They have vegtable composition, incouding lentils and pumpkin seeds.

  6. Peelsphere - A science led brand who focus on plant proteins and sugars to create their composition. They have a range of materials with different percentages of bio based content. They also offer a 100% Algae leather which has a unique texture and finish.

Bio Hardware

What was great to see was the innovations in hardware design as brands really start to be mindful of accessories as a whole product (and not just the main leathers!)

  1. Valupa - A bio-based trim company who have developed products that are 100% biodegradable. They have a vast selection, in a gorgeous natural colour palette. I would be so interested to see how these look & function on bags!

  2. Knopf Budke - These guys are always at PV, and I can see why. They have so many developments in really interesting finishes. They use waste products such as nut shells, abalone and coffee - and create mesmerising patterns. These are more for RTW, but great for inspiration.

3D Technologies

No idea how they managed it, but these companies bought there huge printers and scanners to showcase their tech in real life. It definitely drew a crowd, and I absolutely loved it.

  1. VVC3D - They print directly onto fabrics, to create these amazing designs. You can start small (with logos) but also you can create amazing 3D patterns where the sky really is the limit.

  2. Vizoo - This was real time rendering, where you could create a extremely HD scan of a fabric swatch and it is uploaded directly into Clo. I will say, it still takes a lot of photoshop once rendered, and I would love to see it create its own pattern repeats.

AI take over

This year really felt like it was all about AI and the latest technologies designed to streamline businesses. I’m still so unsure about them, but I thought I’d share a few companies in case you’re interested.

  1. Refabric – A system that aims to help designers and brands create designs efficiently. You input a prompt and inspiration images, and within minutes, it generates full runway looks. They don’t do bags (yet), but I was honestly terrified when I saw this tool. In my very humble opinion, it’s quite literal and lacks out-of-the-box conceptual thinking.

  2. Myth – An AI system that generates prints. You feed it as much information as possible, and it creates HD prints that you can export. It also offers multiple variations, and you can copyright your work.

  3. Heuritech – This one I didn’t mind. It’s a trend forecasting tool that’s impressively efficient at analysing data. It processes catwalk shows, turns them into numerical data, and curates themes. Their main platform analyses 500,000 Instagram accounts and translates this into actionable insights. You could see the most-worn bags, and FYI, the top bag was: Dior ‘Lady Dior’.

Thanks for reading, I am happy to share more insights and hear your comments.

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Men’s AW25 Accessories