The Glam World

Writing about lingerie is fun: we get to look through reams of glamorous images, we use our virtual platform to bring you the crème de la crème of lingerie and designers, and now and then we have the pleasure of reviewing beautiful pieces. One of the questions we’re asked most frequently is: Why don’t you design your own label? In fact we ask ourselves the same question, usually on the tube or metro, after we’ve been submerged in the wonderful world of lingerie trade shows.

The People

We love trade shows and we love the people behind the labels. Once we’ve extricated ourselves from heavy bags of promotional propaganda, we can relax, chat and wander around looking at whatever takes our fancy. Ok, so it’s not quite as floaty as that; we work hard at these shows, they’re tiring and we’re in bed way before midnight. Thoughts of glamorous parties, champagne and gorgeous outfits are firmly in our dreams the minute our heads touch the pillows. This year we braved it on to the glitzy streets of Paris, after accepting an invitation to the Secret Square Club for the überglam, Parisian Maison Close party – and still we made it into bed by midnight.

The Salon de la Lingerie in Paris is the big show in the lingerie world: big, small and do-people-really-wear-this-stuff labels are all at the show to do the same thing – sell. The lingerie world reminds me a whole lot of the ballet world (I escaped), the end product is fabulously glamorous to look at. But whichever label you choose to look at, make no mistake, there’s hard slog behind it.

The Real World

Photography for Shell Belle by Jason Knott

Over the years we’ve learned to stick to what and who we like, that way our time is used wisely (and our feet thank us for it at the end of the day). To hang out with some of the most talented people in the industry is pretty cool. Not only do we see, feel and occasionally try on products we adore, we get the stories behind the designs, and see the efforts made to bring the designs to life and to the show. It’s this that answers our question time and time again: yes, designing is fun; yes, it’s amazing to be part of the glamorous world; yes, the people are wonderful; and yes, the end product is droolingly fabulous – and we get to see all of it, admire it, write about it and then go to bed!

A Look At Lingerie In 2011

It’s not just Paris that provides us with a tantalizing look at the coming year’s collections. The Lingerie Collective in London has swiftly become one of the best places for retailers who are looking for fantastic, established and up-coming luxury lingerie labels. Take a look at our video from this season’s Lingerie Collective!

Homepage Image

Fräulein Kink

Salon de la Lingerie 2011

After three days looking at beautiful lingerie, meeting fabulous people and a visit to an exclusive party in Paris, we’re back!
While we catch our breath here’s one of our favourite moments from this year’s Salon de la Lingerie: the Maison Close burlesque performance with the incroyable Mamzelle Viviane!

A Burlesque Performance for Maison Close by Mamzelle Viviane!

Homepage Image: The beautiful Celine Pinckers.

The thought of attending a lingerie show can be daunting for those who have never been to one. Paris in particular is a huge venue with stands full of beautiful lingerie and people – It’s also a fabulous experience!

Paris Lingerie Show 2010

Harlette Luxury Lingerie
This year’s lingerie show in Paris was fantastically busy, and exhibitors as well as buyers were certainly looking happier and more enthusiastic than last year! The Salon de la Lingerie this season was spread over two large buildings, a scale up from last year; there also seemed to be more lingerie and more space to wander about inbetween stands. Spending a whole day inside a building could lead to thoughts of claustrophobia, however the layout, enormous space and (this year’s better) lighting is just like walking around a town – the difference is, this one has a roof and is entirely populated by lingerie. Cafés selling anything from soup to sushi (and of course pattiserie) were dotted around the place so it’s easy to pick up something to eat at any time and to recharge your batteries, before the next round!

For the duration of the show, the Salon de la Lingerie is home to well-known and large brands such as Aubade, Cotton Club, Calvin Klein and Diesel; it also welcomes boutique brands – and this is where we find ourselves getting most excited.

What We Saw

This year the area known as Be Spicy (formerly Spicy Garden) was full of fabulous brands, some already known to us and a few who were enjoying their first exhibition. Harlette (above), a new label dedicated to luxury fit for royalty had to be seen to be believed: platinum clasps, diamonds and fabrics so incredible they don’t seem real. Its designer, Naomi, explained she was keen to design utterly luxurious lingerie and loungewear that flattered not just those with svelte size 6 bodies. She is also aware that for some a platinum and diamond accessorized piece is unattainable, which is why she has designed her range to suit a variety of pockets. We reckon Harlette is going to be a roaring success and hope to see more over the coming year!

More Labels To Watch

Nichole de Carle
Other relatively unknown and new labels included Beautiful Bottoms, and Les Jupons de Tess and Dirty Pretty Things (featured in our ‘Ones to Watch’ post in December); we also ‘rediscovered’ a label we got to know a few years back: Nichole de Carle. Nichole was back in full swing exhibiting an awesome new collection – not only is this luxuriously stunning collection on the cutting edge of contemporary lingerie fashion, its beauty is quite remarkable. The seemingly unstoppable designer has merged edgy designs with a softer, almost romantic style bringing together a collection we think will become de rigeur in a luxury lingerie boutiques.

Over the next wee while we’ll be bringing you updates of other labels we had the pleasure to see at this year’s Paris Lingerie Show – so don’t go anywhere!

After a short but very sweet visit to the Salon de la Lingerie in Paris here is a little peek…

Paris Lingerie Show 2010

This season’s lingerie show in Paris was a joy: after last year’s somewhat quieter atmosphere, this year was busy and buzzing with excitement. What was previously known as the Spicy Garden had been renamed ‘Be Spicy’ – a running theme within the salon this year, with other sections named: Be Men, Be Chic, Be Essential and Be Mum. It was a delight to see some of our old friends back in the Spicy Garden (Be Spicy), as well as a couple of exciting newcomers who were enjoying a successful show.

A Sneaky Peek!

Velda Lauder (left) and Bex Paul (right)

Along with fabulous new collections from Kiss Me Deadly, Sally Jones, Fred & Ginger, Ayten Gasson and Playful Promises, Velda Lauder’s fabulous corsets and stunning model Bex Paul (above), as well as Maison Close’s mini burlesque show (below), understandably attracted a great deal of attention! We will bring you more information about the show over the next week and (if technology works in our favour) we will hopefully have a few visual treats for you as well!

Another Little Taster!

Maison Close Burlesque Show

We have just returned from this year’s Salon de la Lingerie in Paris – over the next few weeks, we will be reporting on some amazing new designers as well as existing favourites!

Valery Awarded Designer of the Year 2009

We would like to congratulate Valery for being awarded the prestigious ’2009 Designer of the Year’ at this year’s Salon de la Lingerie!

The Italian company, founded in 1978 by the Demichelis family, has graced us with 20 years of fabulous lingerie – all beautiful and stunningly designed. Their hard work paid off in 1995, when they were given the European Community award, the first Italian clothing business to receive this honour.

With three labels to their name – Prestige Valery, Valery and Rosapois – Valery appeal to a wide audience: from those who love luxury, seductive lingerie to those with a penchant for elegance and fashion. Distributed in over 40 countries, Valery continually work on improving their designs and the technology involved to give us the quality and luxuriousness we love to enjoy.

If you are keen to see more of Valery’s collections, they will be exhibiting at Harrogate Lingerie & Swimwear Exhibition from 22nd – 24th February 2009 at stand B1.

Salon De La Lingerie Paris 2009

This year’s Salon de la Lingerie in Paris starts on the 18th January 2009!

As always we can’t wait to seek out any newcomers to the show, and see what some of our favourite designers have planned for the coming year. If you’re going to be in Paris and would like to meet up with us on the 19th or 20th January, just drop us an email thegirls@knickersblog.com or call +44 (0)7929 420 304. We’re on GMT time and will reply very quickly!

Alison & Danae

Guia La Bruna – Ultra Lingerie at Salon International de la Lingerie

We’re on our last days of the show here in Paris, and wanted to give Knickers readers a sneaky peek at the catwalk photos we’ve been taking. This Barbarella-tastic piece is from the Ultra Lingerie show on Thursday night, where designers pair up with textile experts to create a one-off, themed piece just for the show. This year’s theme was Ultra Modern, and this is Guia la Bruna’s piece from the show. Love the retro-future-space-vixen look!

Dezzi’s Lounge – Ultra Lingerie at Salon International de la Lingerie

Okay, we can’t resist one more from the Ultra show, this one from Dutch label Dezzi’s Lounge in a severe case of equestrian chic.

We’ll be uploading the rest of our photos over the next few days, and Alison will be taking care of you next week while Danae is on holiday in Amsterdam. Have a lovely week!