2025 Salon International de la Lingerie: Thoughts from a First-Time Visitor
By ESTELLE PULESTON

Happy Undies
Last month, after a decade and a half of working in intimate apparel, I finally made it to Paris’ Salon International de la Lingerie, “the world’s leading trade event for the lingerie sector.” While there, I heard many people comment that the show was much smaller than in years past, but with 210 brands exhibiting, there was still plenty to fill the three full days that I attended.

Carvaro
I’m not sure quite what I had been expecting, but while the bigger and more established brands were focused on next season’s collections, most of the independent designers were showcasing their current seasonal collections as well. It gave me a chance to actually see and touch pieces I have already written about, such as those by Cambaj and Carvaro. And I got the sense that many of these smaller brands are interested in taking a slower fashion approach, offering each collection for longer than just one season.

The Lingerie Shop at Salon International de la Lingerie
New to the Salon this year was the ‘Lingerie Shop’, a selection of the show’s top picks in a space styled to look like a boutique, which attendees could browse at their leisure. It might have been my first time there, but I thought this was a fantastic addition! It’s impossible to meet with every single brand, but here you could get an up-close look at many of them whenever you had a spare ten minutes.

Student work from Elysées Marbeuf School
Also on show at one of the booths was student work from the Elysées Marbeuf school, which I always find to be incredibly creative and interesting. Another highlight could have been the fashion shows, but arriving just on time for one of them, I found myself towards the back of a very dimly-lit room, squinting at a smoke-filled catwalk. Still fun, but definitely not a helpful way to appreciate the garments’ details. A tip for future attendees: plan to begin queueing at least 15 minutes before the start time!

Nette Rose
As a first-timer at such a large trade show, my experience was that it was a lot to take in. If you can attend for multiple days, definitely do so because it wasn’t until the end of day two, when I started to edit and categorize my photos, that I was really able to gather my thoughts and pick out the key trends running through everything: interesting textures; vibrant color blocking; shimmering metallics; greens, purples and deep reds; stylish back details; and finally, a strong emphasis on designing for ‘lingerie as outerwear’ lovers.

Modibodi
Multiple indie designers also spoke to me about expanding their sleep and loungewear collections or introducing this category for the first time. This lined up with key stats shared in the Salon program showing that while the overall lingerie industry has shrunk slightly since 2023, home wear has grown 10%. Customers may be buying less bras but they’re still treating themselves to items such as robes, possibly influenced by their versatile, indoor and outdoor styling potential.

Lumey
I think it’s difficult for a single trade show – no matter how large – to fully depict what’s happening in the entire intimate apparel industry. For one thing, despite having brands in attendance from all over the globe, the Salon naturally skews heavily towards French lingerie design. There are certain trends I’ve noticed online which I didn’t see represented in any meaningful way.

Sabrina Nadal
However, it was still a fascinating experience and I may well be back next year – alongside making trips to other lingerie trade shows too for a more rounded view of the state of the ‘Lingerieosphere’.

Mon Tiroir

Scarlett Gasque

Odette Ancel

Sans Complexe
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