Interfilièreis a twice-yearly specialist international trade fair for the lingeriesleepwear, active and swimwear market. It is the biggest fair globally forlingerie and held in Paris.

Thisweekend I visited with some of our design and technical team as part of ourcreative development process. More than ever before, the fair was a reflectionof a constantly changing international market with 113 visitor countries
attending, and 150 companies showing their ranges.

Many ofour lace, embroidery, fabrics, fibres, elastics, buttons, bra cups, trims,ribbons and hardwear suppliers exhibit at this event and as market leaders in lingerie,it’s critical for us to attend and connect with the global lingerie community.It is the event where professionals in the industry come together.

With so much ground to cover wesplit up into small teams to make best use of our time. It’s anopportunity for us to conduct work meetings with current suppliers on productsalready in the development pipeline and also to get a first view of their newranges, often revealed at the show for the first time.

With 150exhibitors from all around the world showcasing their ranges at the fair, it’salso a fantastic opportunity to meet new suppliers and discuss potential futurecollaborations. It’s inspiring, creative and a very efficient use oftime.

AtM&S, in developing our market leading lingerie, we know that it’s acombination of the performance of fibres, fabrics, skills and machines withtrend, design, detail and innovation which sets us apart and for whichcustomers are loyal to our brand. In creating this, attending Trades Fairs suchas Interfiliere is critical to ensure we are staying up to date with the latestdevelopments and ideas which we can use to stimulate and inspire us to developnew concepts for our customers. Of course, I can’t reveal specific projects andnew finds we were excited to progress from the fair, these are top secret untillaunch!

What I can share however is thatthese include working on intricate lace designs for a new Rosie for Autographcollection, utilising the extensive archives, heritage and know-how of theartisan French Design craftsmen we use to create this brand, exploring newyarns and innovative techniques with our Swiss and Austrian embroiderysuppliers who are knownas the best in the world, and discovering newtechnologies in garment construction which we can harness todevelop newconcepts.

We returnto London inspired and buzzing with a wealth of global information which startsour product development process fueled with creativity and are excited to usethis to bring new lingerie concepts to our customers.