Over the last six years, Frédéric Maus—a veteran of fashion retail—has witnessed the mounting rapidity of the industry’s trend cycle. Since starting his work with trade show organizer WSN, the company’s fair of 35 years, Premiere Classe, has continued its efforts to promote young, independent designers, alongside their well-known counterparts.
The biannual, international fashion trade fair is to be held alongside Women’s Fashion Week in Paris from Sept. 28-30. The extensive collection of accessories and ready-to-wear pieces will be gathered at the Carrousel du Louvre. Complete with parades and contests, fashion insiders will have the opportunity to explore the varied and original collections of the industry’s latest movers and shakers.
For Maus, the event is a testament, not only to the creativity and festivities associated with fashion, but to its home city. The charm of its storied cafés, hidden courtyards, and narrow streets may be paralleled only by the dazzling hat of a coffee-sipping patron or a brilliant pair of heels clicking down the cobblestones. As Paris Fashion Week kicks off, Maus joins CULTURED to discuss WSN’s work in events, editorials, and creative collaboration.
CULTURED: Tell us a bit about how you came to WSN. What drew you to the company, and how have you seen it evolve since you joined in 2018?
Frédéric Maus: My entire career has been dedicated to fashion. Previously, I was working for a luxury department store, and then I took charge of the digital transition of the French retail giant La Redoute. What attracted me to WSN was the central position this event organizer holds in this industry. I believe that above all, fashion is emotion, and it is crucial to what we do. But this emotion can only be found and transmitted in person, and that’s why our events at WSN are so important. We seek to tackle today’s challenges while preserving our creative DNA—which can be seen through the show’s scenography, the brand selection, the evening events—in order to better serve buyers and retailers.
Since 2018, we have redefined our events’ role, in particular that of our trademark shows: Who’s Next and Premiere Classe. On the other hand, we also launched events that come as natural answers to evolutions in the creative industries, such as DRP, a festival and magazine dedicated to today’s urban culture; Matter and Shape, an architecture and design event; and RUN, which comes as a solution to brands for white-label fashion shows. We have also developed our ability to operate on behalf of other companies, like the Salon International de la Lingerie for Eurovet, Bijorhca for the BOCI, and Sport Achat and the High Five Festival for SportAir.
CULTURED: Can you think back to a defining moment or memory when you knew that fashion was your passion?
Maus: I can’t pinpoint an exact moment, because fashion has always been a part of my life. You could even say I was born into it; my parents had a multi-brand retail store for menswear. I grew up with a general awareness of fashion, so much that I never actually considered working elsewhere.
CULTURED: What is the mission of WSN as you see it?
Maus: Gathering communities and helping them develop in a caring, festive, and creative environment.
CULTURED: What are you most looking forward to for this edition of Premiere Classe?
Maus: I am looking forward to bringing together, just like every year for the last 35 years, the best of accessories and fashion brands in the biggest gathering of creators during Fashion Week. It’s an incredible opportunity to be able to host such an event alongside catwalks and to meet designers coming from everywhere to exhibit in Paris.
CULTURED: What trends do you expect to make a significant showing this month and at your programming?
Maus: We’re seeing a comeback of creativity and craftsmanship, which reflects a wider, more global issue, as we’ve been witnessing trends around fashion that have been standardized, wedged between ultra-fast fashion and high luxury. At Premiere Classe, we want to highlight the creators behind brands. For instance, this edition will feature an exclusive interview with the hatmaker Stephen Jones, and a conference on the topic of fashion accessories as art pieces.
CULTURED: Does WSN have anything planned to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Who’s Next? How has the program grown since its inception?
Maus: This year, we celebrated not one but three anniversaries! In January we held the 60th anniversary of the Salon International de la Lingerie with a retrospective fashion show, in March we had Premiere Classe’s 35th, which we hosted with the ANDAM Fashion Awards at the well-known venue Maxim’s, and finally, this month, we held a special edition of Who’s Next for its 30th anniversary, with an unforgettable party and a show choreographed by Mariana Benenge, a vibrant tribute to diversity and inclusion, to echo WSN’s core values.
With B2B events as well known and as historic as these, we have a responsibility to preserve the same DNA, which is to represent culture and to gather communities around everything creative, but also we strive to always come forward with the unexpected. This year, our Matter and Shape director Matthieu Pinet and artistic director Dan Thawley were nominated among Vogue Business’s 100 innovators. The magazine said we were Paris Fashion Week’s best show, even if Matter and Shape didn’t exhibit any clothes!
CULTURED: It’s been five years since WSN started working on IMPACT, an event dedicated to sustainable design. What do you look for, and what should consumers take note of, when shopping sustainably?
Maus: When we created IMPACT, our main goal was to amplify all the great initiatives happening in sustainable fashion. This took place at a time when there was a lot of finger-pointing and brand bashing, but we wanted to show that there were also a lot of positive things happening, and we wanted to highlight the people who were acting towards sustainability in fashion.
CULTURED: What do you think sets Paris apart as a fashion destination for the industry?
Maus: I think Paris is inextricably linked to fashion, the arts, and overall creation. This is a place where people come to launch projects, create, and meet like-minded people. It’s a very particular city too, because you can walk in Parisian streets like you would in a museum, and any building facade is a work of art. You don’t get that in many capitals, because many are too modern and are built to be efficient, not beautiful. People come to Paris for fashion to find the very best, and by that I don’t necessarily mean French brands—although France has had more than its share in world-changing fashion creators. In Paris, we can select and curate the best that’s out there, from all over the world, because our artistic eye has been shaped by the beauty of this city.
This year’s edition also comes during an extraordinary event, because Paris was the host of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. These truly honored Paris’s heritage by showcasing some of the most creative games we’ve ever seen. We were also so proud to play a little part in it. Three of our Premiere Classe exhibiting designers were featured at the Opening Show. Clara Daguin, Jeanne Friot, and Solène Lescouët had their clothing worn by performers, displaying the talent of our creators that we tirelessly represent and seek to bring to light at WSN.
