Industry

In Conversation with Florence Deschamps Showroom and SCHRÖROOM

With New York Fashion Week wrapped up and Paris Fashion Week just on the horizon, the flurry that is Fashion Month is marked by an energy of creative alchemy and a wave of opportunity for many. We know, of course, that the runway shows and press parties aren't the only events to write home about—it's a fact made clear the second you step into a showroom.

Showrooms offer up a supreme opportunity for designers; you're able to showcase your work, network with industry leaders, and explore the new work crafted by your contemporaries. Eager to shed more light on the exciting world of fashion showrooms, we spoke with Florence Deschamps and Lara Schröder, two leading showroom owners with spaces in Paris, to hear more about their expertise and thoughts around the importance and pitfalls of showrooms in the Fashion Week madness. 

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Florence Deschamps from Florence Deschamps Showroom

Having served as the President of Comme des Garcons for over five years where she cultivated her passion for creative fashion, Florence Deschamps went on to launch the Florence Deschamps Showroom with the goal of mentorship and international development for new designers. Since its inception nearly 10 year ago, the Florence Deschamps Showroom has continued to lead following the belief that young talent is to be nurtured and developed.You’ve been involved in almost every facet of the fashion industry.
 

How has your extensive experience shaped your current view of the industry?

Experience is realizing that the past won’t help you predict the future. You need to live fully in the present, which is very important. The industry is global today. It’s wonderful to meet inspired young designers from Argentina, Eastern Europe or Korea, with different backgrounds and cultural references. The market is also becoming increasingly industrialized. But nothing will ever replace creativity and inspired and sincere design. This, then becomes my inspiration.
 

What are some of the most valuable lessons you’ve learned over the years?

Never take yourself too seriously.
 

Listen to what people have to say and try to understand what they are trying to do.

Work with people who know how to listen and want to be helped. One of my most famous designers taught me an important lesson: In the 1980s I was president of a company in France. I was called to Japan to meet my clients twice yearly, and I found Japan to be a learning process. One day, an earthquake happened and the building began to sway. I was terribly frightened. The president of the company (and designer) said, "Madame Deschamps, go to your desk, and calmly give an example to the staff."  I did just that and never forgot the lesson that was given. One must do a good job at all times, and when given responsibility, must be true to it, even during trying times. Another designer, Kenzo Takada, showed me how to work while enjoying every moment of the workday. This was also a great experience. 
 

If you had to give emerging designers one piece of advice, what would it be?

Look closely at a photo of Karl Lagerfeld’s office. He loved his work and lived it. All his culture, which was immense, went into his collections.

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How important are showrooms in boosting a designer’s career?

Properly managed, they become a hub of creativity and achievement, as well as a great meeting place between dream and reality, designs and buyers. There’s a special energy: a designer needs a showroom in the same way an artist needs a gallery.
 

Do you think every designer should seek out a showroom?

Sure, it’s a valuable experience. It's also good to see what other designers are doing.
 

There is oftentimes a bit of confusion when it comes to young designers trying to navigate how to show their work. What are some tips for those just starting out and seeking out showroom opportunities?

Try to be clear and concise: less is more. Talk modestly about what inspires you and how you translate it into your work. Enjoy silence. Be true to yourself, and work hard. Nurture the skill of discriminating between what is important and what isn't.
 

We hear of young designers taking part in pop-ups or working with showrooms that turn out to be scams. What’s your take on this? How can designers ensure that these opportunities are in fact legitimate?

Ask for third party references and meet the people you’re doing business with. Also, ask as many questions as you can. Scammers don’t know all that much about fashion.
 

What led you to create the Florence Deschamps Showroom?

It’s a good medium; it's halfway between the catwalk and a boutique. It allows my designers to meet people who are going  to help them achieve their goals. Many of my designers asked for this showroom.
 

Tell us a bit about how your showroom works. What are your core lessons that prepare designers for the international stage?

We work on the collection, twice monthly, with the designer, of course, to make it express the best of what the designer can do. We then introduce the designers and their work to international buyers and discuss the results. A follow up is essential, both on creative and commercial levels.
 

What does your showroom look like during fashion week?

An interesting and, I hope, inspiring sideshow for buyers, designers and all other interested parties.
 

How do the designers you work with inspire you?

The potential is always dizzying. I see possibilities and they motivate me. Some of them continue to inspire me always.


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Lara Schröder from SCHRÖROOM

Founded by London-based Wholesales Manager and Consultant Lara Schröder, SCHRÖROOM is a niche Multi-Brand Showroom, Sales Agency and Brand+Design Consultancy specializing in avant-garde and conceptual fashion brands with a special interest in color, print, pattern, surface decoration, textile manipulation, tailoring and embellishment. SCHRÖROOM champions new, emerging and established contemporary talent through and through.
 

If you had to give emerging designers one piece of advice, what would it be? 

A designer really needs to understand the market and industry they are entering into and be clear on what it is that they can bring that's different and unique to everything else already out there. I would advise designers to balance very carefully between drawing upon their natural creativity and making a product that customers will buy and cherish.

How important are showrooms in boosting a designer’s career?

There are numerous benefits to working with a showroom, which is why so many labels choose to invest in being represented this way.

To put it simply, a showroom is the key link between the designer and the store. It's vital to the success and survival of the designer, both by making wholesales revenue and increasing their brand presence by being strategically placed in the best stores for their product. The showroom can facilitate and introduce not only new brands to stores, but also aid a smooth process from start to finish, chasing invoices or assisting with factory problems etc. A showroom with a good reputation like ours will not just offer a rail during Fashion Week. It's a 360º approach, nurturing the designer throughout the year, offering guidance on collections, pricing, funding, and collaborations. This support can sometimes be the difference between make or break for a young label.

Furthermore, the showroom is a great gauge of buyer approval and feedback on collections is invaluable. We gather every single word of feedback made about each of our brands and compile them into in-depth sales reports where an analysis of the brand performance (and indeed, areas that need improvement) can help guide the next collection. It's a well-known fact that few buyers feel comfortable offering honest opinion when the designer is present, eagerly awaiting their praise. The showroom environment allows for that honesty where a buyer can turn to the agent and say, for example, "it needs developing" or "it's not commercial enough."

Showrooms give buyers confidence in a brand just as being represented by a good showroom adds status to the brands it chooses to work with. The added benefit is convenience to the buyer. With stores under increasing pressure of tighter budgets and shorter buying trips, buyers can review multiple brands in one appointment and, with a curated showroom like SCHRÖROOM, they can be introduced to totally new brands who also fit their store aesthetic.

Do you think every designer should seek out a showroom? 

There are many types of designer out there and showrooms aren't suited or even necessary for all them. For example, some designers produce 'direct-to-customer' collections where they run a label and sell their collections direct via their own e-commerce (web shop) or even via Instagram. This can be an extremely cost effective way of managing a business for some designers but it relies heavily brand awareness and demand for the products being made.

Designers, on the other hand, whose aim it is to become well-known around the world and make significantly larger gains will enter into wholesale. In this case the brand gains status and awareness by being sold in top International stores which in turn feeds back into the demand and popularity of the label and fuels the financial side of the business. This type of designer would do well with a suitable showroom who can introduce their work to these top stores and help facilitate International growth. If a designer is wondering whether they need a showroom, they first need to ask themselves what it is they are trying to achieve through their label.

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There is oftentimes a bit of confusion when it comes to young designers trying to navigate how to show their work. What are some tips for those just starting out and seeking out showroom opportunities?

One of the key elements I look for when working with young designers is that they understand the industry they are entering into and that they are ready to take on the challenges ahead. Being a designer in a massively over-saturated market and surviving the transition from fashion school joy to reality is very hard. Nearly all the designers I know work seven days a week and have little time for fun or personal life.

If a designer wants to start working with our showroom, the most important question I will have for them is; if you receive orders, can you actually produce them? It's not surprising that a new brand won't have partnered up with a factory yet, but if I take their collection to market and we're receiving strong orders, I need to know that the orders can be reliably fulfilled (on time and to standard). Delivery of late or poor quality garments will destroy a brand in one fell swoop.

Therefore, any designer partnering with a showroom must already be confident they have the manufacturing side of things set-up and ready to go. This could be tested and developed by first launching a web shop and establishing a customer base in-house.

Most showrooms will seek to represent a brand who's already made at least two post-grad collections so that the brand identity and ethos are clear and established. In addition to this, showrooms are keen to see industry buzz and press coverage of a brand, so either getting established on Instagram as soon as the brand launches or even better, partnering with a PR agency, are great ways to attract the top showrooms. Similarly, reaching out to a showroom with bold look books, tidy line sheets and a strong press kit will show an agent that the designer is ready and prepared to move into wholesales.

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We hear of young designers taking part in pop-ups or working with showrooms that turn out to be scams. What’s your take on this? How can designers ensure that these opportunities are in fact legitimate? 

I can say that sadly quite a few showrooms out there have an open-doors policy to any designer who can pay up the fee, which I find morally objectionable. They just offer a rail during Fashion Week but without the management, guidance, dedicated sales support or sales reporting, which ultimately will be a waste of money for a brand. By the time I launched SCHRÖROOM, I had heard of so many horror stories from emerging designers who had lost thousands of pounds to showrooms such as these and not even gained a stockist or sales report in the process! I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I wasn't doing my absolute best for each and every designer I represent and this dedication shows in the trust they choose to put in me.

The best way to find a trusted showroom is to search portals like MODEM who list all the registered showrooms around the world. An additional source for UK brands is the UKFT who offer independent advice and listings of their approved showrooms where SCHRÖROOM and many other great showrooms are listed. Some brands seek guidance from Fashion councils but as they are corporately partnered with trade fairs, they tend to tell designers to go down that route which can be detrimental to a brands' success. Gathering advice from many sources is a good way to navigate this process.

Following these steps should ensure signing with the right showroom and once in talks, it's quite reasonable for a designer to speak directly with currently represented brands to find out if the showroom is all it lives up to be. A designer should also receive a contract (which is read carefully!) and be clear on the costs and obligations before signing.
 

What does your showroom look like during fashion week?

During Paris Fashion Week many Independent showrooms like SCHRÖROOM actually move location dependent on the brand mix from season to season but we always aim to find blank canvas spaces where our brands can really shine in the Marais area of Paris.

How do the designers you work with inspire you? 

SCHRÖROOM is a curated multi-brand showroom, which means I hand-pick each brand we represent to fit within our concept. Our designers are ultimately artists, with strong values and visions for the world they live in. They are also keenly aware of their industry's impact on the environment and have developed new techniques and processes to become more sustainable and responsible which makes me extremely proud. I am constantly in admiration of their perseverance, creativity and ability to adapt to the commercial needs of their business whilst maintaining their unique aesthetic and moral codes.

I really enjoy working closely with these incredibly talented designers and find it so rewarding to see buyers fall in-love with their brands, which can result in gaining long-term stockists. Facilitating success for a designer is extremely fulfilling and as a dedicated agent invested in the designers I chose to work with, I often feel like a proud 'mum'!