Let’s go on a SHOWROOM VISIT! TOUBA London/The SHOWROOM Next Door – Paris SS 2013

Fashion Week season is over.

Le SIGH.

The Spring Summer 2014 shows won’t start until September…

So what’s a girl to do for an in-between fashion scouting fix?

Get invited to go visit a SHOWROOM!

I looooooove visiting showrooms. For me, it’s like going to an art gallery -

The collection of lines shown in a showroom tends to be small, well curated, and chosen with a specific point of view – so if there’s one line I like, I’ll usually like a few. I love getting the time to really look at the pieces, and to see how they’re constructed – away from the mystique of the runway, or the chaos of a trade show.  And I love talking to the Reps.  Because they’ve so carefully curated their collections, they tend to be a wealth of information.

Take London-based Fode Sylla, of TOUBA London and The SHOWROOM Next Door.

We met last season at Paris Fashion Week, where he’d set up a pop-up showroom for all of his lines, and he invited me to come take a look -

 

I spent hours with Fode. The lines he showed were impeccably chosen, each with these traits in common: beautiful construction, top quality materials, a certain quirkiness and serious artistry. He’d managed to create that magical relativity – the one where each line is strengthened by being grouped together with the others shown. And Fode was passionate about them all  - he could rattle off details about each designer’s pedigree and each collection’s story.

So come on!

Join me for the first ever Fashion Dilettante Showroom Visit -