#BritsInParis - Grass & Air Attend Playtime Paris
As we entered 2020, at Grass & Air we felt we needed something big to kick start the decade. So, the team headed to Paris to attend our most fashionable foray yet. Making our international trade show debut at Playtime Paris! The Playtime Group focus on creativity and trends when curating their trade shows. Bringing childrenswear brands and buyers together using a forward-thinking approach. It was the perfect opportunity to meet like-minded retailers and introduce new products.
The Grass & Air stand in the 'New Now' Area
After an early start excitement was running high as the team headed to Parc Floral to start setting up. Situated in the New Now area we were amongst twelve brands chosen for their new approach to kidswear. Commenting on the Grass & Air stand, our Marketing Manager, Bryony, said “a combination of fantastic stand placement and eye-catching merchandising made a great stand.”
The New Now area gives the spotlight to up-and-coming brands. This year it consisted of twelve brands making their Playtime debuts. Selected by Elisa Gallois the influencer behind Et Dieu Créa, a well-known French blog. Focussing on fashion and lifestyle, Elisa has a poetic and authentic vision. Playtime Paris commented “We called on her sensitivity and insight into the kid’s world to carefully select 12 crushes amongst the brands that will be at our New Now space!” When visiting Grass & Air at the show, Gallois said “Your stand looks so vibrant and colourful, I love it. It's wonderful to see your brand come to life at the show.”
#BritsInParis – A Thanks to UKFT
Our journey to Paris wouldn’t have been possible without support from the UK Fashion & Textile Association (UKFT). Their Brits Around the World campaign facilitates UK brands attending overseas trade shows. With the aim of promoting exports and growing UK businesses. Laurian Davies MBE selected Grass & Air to be part of the UKFT cohort at Playtime Paris. Commenting on her choice, Laurian said "We're so pleased with the strong representation by the Brits in Paris at Playtime this season. It shows what a thriving scene we have in the UK for childrenswear, we're delighted to have Grass & Air as part of our export story for 2020." UKFT created the brilliant ‘#BritsInParis’ that you might have seen us use on our Instagram. It was a great way to see all the other marvellous British brands at the show.
We’ve been riding on a high since our return to the head office, reflecting and sharing the excellent experience we had at our first international trade show. We look back at some of the amazing feedback we received on both our core collection and new products. We also met some great new stockists who are keen to deliver Grass & Air to their customers. It feels like this 3-day trip will go down in Grass & Air history and will be a catalyst for bigger things to come. Once again, we’d like to thank Playtime for having us, and UKFT for supporting our journey. And of course, to the wonderful Bryony, Melissa and Tess for making the voyage to Paris and representing Grass & Air on the international stage.
Check out Grass & Air’s Playtime profile here. Stayed tuned for all the exciting things we having coming up in 2020. In the mean time, see more blogs by Grass & Air here.
