New York: Première Vision responds to Milano Unica’s project

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Published
Feb 11, 2015

At the latest edition of the Milano Unica trade show, Carlo Calenda, the Italian Deputy Minister of Economic Development, took the opportunity to wish organizers the best of luck in their efforts to supplant the French show Première Vision this July in New York! A joke of course and certainly understood as such... 

Première Vision, however, responded during the opening of its flagship show in Paris on Tuesday, February 10, referring to the already strong Italian presence at its New York show. 

"Italy was one of the first foreign countries to join Première Vision at its founding 40 years ago. Since then we’ve been working with exporting Italian companies around the world," said Gilles Lasbordes, the head of Première Vision Paris. "That includes in New York, where we’ve been working for the past 15 years. Première Vision is a powerful tool that works. We have to continue forward with this work and to develop the show further."

The message is intended to be as political as it is clear: instead of diving headfirst into a quixotic new European textile event in New York, Italian companies and authorities should invest in an event that has already proven itself in a market that is as delicate as it is important. The organizers of Première Vision, as it happens, like to point out that they have never needed government subsidies. 

The exchange recalls a similar struggle between Première Vision SA and Messe Frankfurt, with which Milano Unica has sided, organizing a large Italian village each season at the Intertextile Shanghai trade show. The partnership could, however, prove to be an obstacle to this type of collaboration with Première Vision, although "the door remains open", according to its leaders. 

Last year’s July edition of Première Vision New York brought together 261 companies and 4,223 visitors, up 7%. 

The 20th edition of Milano Unica, meanwhile, welcomed 353 exhibitors in early February, both Italian and foreign, attracting 18,000 visitors, down 5%. It’s worth noting that the current session of Première Vision Paris includes 752 Italian exhibitors!