Podcast: Lucien Pagès of Lucien Pagès Communication analyses the evolution of the French fashion ecosystem
In this new episode of the LuxurynsightXFashionNetwork podcast series, Lucien Pagès, founder of the eponymous Parisian press office, an influential name in the fashion communication world, talks (in French) to Godfrey Deeny, global editor-in-chief of FashionNetwork.com, about his professional journey, intimately linked to the success of the designers he works with.
Pagès' client portfolio includes names like Jonathan Anderson and Chitose Abe, with his Sacai label, and luxury labels like Pucci and Max Mara. Pagès also works as a consultant for Saint Laurent. Pagès comes from Vialas, a small town nestled in the Cévennes region of France. A graduate of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne (the former name of IFM, the French Fashion Institute), he founded his own company relying on his unique flair for fashion and emerging designers.
“When I started out in 2006, I wanted [my company] to be a small agency, a boutique one with a few hand-picked clients,” said Pagès. “I was keen to work with designers I admired, to help them build their brand in my own way, through public relations,” he added.
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“The agency’s first client was Adam Kimmel, a New York menswear designer who has been very successful,” remembers Pagès. “He was Colette’s darling, he came to see her in Paris one day with a suitcase containing five cashmere sweaters... She loved them, and his label became a real hit,” he said.
Early on, Lucien Pagès Communication (LPC) had a close connection with Kimmel: “we sort of took our first steps together, I’d let him use my office as a showroom when he was in Paris,” said Pagès, who worked with Kimmel for many years.
He began to represent “labels created by friends and people I knew,” like Olympia Le-Tan. Then, over the years, and in parallel with LPC's growth, Pagès turned his attention to labels that he personally appreciated, like that by Simon Porte-Jacquemus. According to Pagès, “[The Jacquemus] show staged amidst lavender fields, for the label's tenth anniversary, was a genuine milestone in the history of fashion.”
In this podcast, Pagès also analyses the changes taking place in the public relations sector, with the web and social media playing an increasingly influential role in shaping fashion advertising. Influencers and Instagram celebrities have indeed become a powerful communication tool for press offices.
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