Fashion is truly a world of enthusiasts, of people who put their heart and soul into making designers shine in France and internationally, and thus pushing an entire industry to the top. Muriel Piaser, Director of all PRET A PORTER Paris® shows(PRET A PORTER Paris®, ATMOSPHERE’S, THE BOX) is one of them.
A true lover of fashion and, above all, of life, she knows how to spot and guess tomorrow’s trends, not hesitating for a moment to showcase the talent of emerging designers. At the end of June, the magazine went to meet a sparkling woman whose eye twitches whenever she talks about her job and fashion, of course. She spoke passionately about her love of fashion and looked back on a career rich in encounters.
First of all, hello Muriel Piaser, and thank you for agreeing to meet us.
MURIEL PIASER, Copyright T.Lebraly
Since 2010, you’ve been the Director of all PRET A PORTER Paris® shows, which seems like a natural step in your career, since fashion seems to be such an integral part of your life. After graduating from EFAP (Ecole des métiers de la communication), you quickly turned to fashion communications, with a preference for designers (Atsuro Tayama, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Torrente Haute Couture and above all Jean-Paul Gaultier). You always knew you wanted to work in fashion?
When I was very young, I was already completely captivated by this passion. I choseEFAP because I knew the school could offer me opportunities in this sector, as it offers internships right from the first year. It was a way for me, coming from the South of France, to get into the fashion world and join designers’ houses, because it was very complicated, especially for a young person not from Paris.
I pushed doors open and had the nerve, because at the time, you needed nerve. I did my first internship, then a second, until my final year at EFAP, when I spent a whole year working for Jean-Paul Gaultier, the sponsor of my dissertation. I was completely integrated into the company as if I were an employee.
I had a vocation for public relations and communications, by nature. I’m quite open-minded, I love to work and my fashion culture was very advanced. I’d been reading Elle since I was 14. I’ve always been very interested in this world, it was a dream for me.
For the record, every time I phoned Jean-Paul Gaultier, they’d say no, that’s not possible, and I’d call back. Until one day, they cracked because they thought I was tough.
My career path has been made up of opportunities and encounters. When I was at Jean-Paul Gaultier, I met Emmanuelle Alt, then editor-in-chief of 20 ans magazine , and she asked me to come and work with her. Except that I wasn’t a stylist, I was more in the press, in communications.
I wasn’t really a press agent in the sense that that wasn’t my ultimate goal. I wanted to enter the fashion world and join a structure like the one I’m in now. I wanted to work more in the field of business, sales, development and strategy consulting…
Let’s take a look back at your styling experience. So styling wasn’t a deep-seated need, but rather a necessary step in understanding the challenges and obligations of the profession?
It was an opportunity to really integrate the network and understand the secrets of fashion, the influencers, to understand the system of a showroom or a press office, to know how shopping works, in short to decode the rules of the trade.
Emmanuelle really enabled me to meet all these people and open the doors of business to me. After a year, I left and met Xavier Clergerie, who gave me the opportunity to join his team as a trade show events salesperson. At 28, I joined Who’s Next to create the women’s sector, Fresh, a sector dedicated to young talent.
I stayed with him for 4 years, which opened up another network for me. It was another of life’s opportunities, the kind where, at a given moment, you meet someone and say to yourself: Is this the right time to seize this opportunity? I dared to take risks, I think, and it wasn’t always easy because as I wasn’t from Paris, I always had a bit of a network problem.
Then, during Who’s Next, I met Maryline Vigouroux who, at the time, had founded the Institut Mode Méditerranée, and it was the opportunity of a lifetime for me at the age of 32! I told her I dreamed of working for her. She replied that she was joining the Fédération du Prêt-à-Porter as a consultant to the President, and that she knew he was looking for someone to manage Atmosphère’s women’s show. And that’s when I met Jean-Pierre Mocho, the third key person in my life, who at the age of 32 gave me a huge responsibility.
It’s simply incredible. Compared to the beginning of your career, when you were more involved in designer communications, your job since Who’s Next has been radically different. I think that your background in styling gave you the keys you needed to take your career to a whole new level.
Exactly, my career path has taken place in stages, all of which are complementary. They encompass all areas of the fashion industry: from styling to sales, communications, press and public relations, and today, everything to do with development, scouting and management, where I’m moving more towards development and strategy consulting, helping trade show brands build their strategy.
It all came extremely naturally. I joined Atmosphère’s and was able to develop within the company I’ve been with for 10 years. I created the Box salon, dedicated to designer accessories, my added value to the existing salons, because there was a place to be taken in the Haute-Fantaisie niche, which didn’t exist.
Atmosphère’s and The Box are real successes, and even have a second session at the end of September during Prêt-à-Porter catwalk week at the Pavillon Cambon. The Box also has a session in New York, doesn’t it?
These two shows have a real international reputation. I’m a bit sad because the New York session has been suspended for this year’s show, as we run the risk of doing a different kind of event in New York.
MURIEL PIASER, Copyright C. Lartillot
The New York fashion scene is even more codified than in Paris, and the American market remains highly opaque.
The market is indeed very opaque. We sell well in the U.S. when we’re Americans. We createdThe Train in 2006, which was more a showcase for the “French Touch”. It worked more in terms of image than business, because Americans are used to buying volumes. We had to bring them commercially viable guarantees through marketing. Today, there are few brands positioned on the different range levels. There are the more classic market leaders, followed by creative brands that are not designers. And finally, there are the creators, who don’t have the capacity to produce large volumes.
Americans loved the show, but didn’t invest in new brands. They don’t have the same fashion culture. It’s also difficult for Americans trying to arrive in Paris, because we don’t arrive as conquerors.
After all, we’d been trying to expand for 5 years. We succeeded, but it was on such a small scale compared with the American market that we preferred to invest again and move back to Paris.
And what is your role at the Maison du Prêt-à-Porter?
I have to anticipate trends and sometimes put a country in the spotlight. So I have to develop partnerships with foreign corporations and federations, and then organize the spotlight via press kits, women’s magazines and the trade press.
I also have to manage the teams, unearth tomorrow’s designers and organize communication between buyers and designers, as well as initiate the events and sales process.
This sometimes takes me all over the world. I try to analyze the market. Then I welcome local designers to France and provide them with a network. Paris is undeniably the place where international recognition is essential and where it is acquired. Business is done in Paris, a lot of foreign brands are made in Paris, there’s so much influence!
I also have to pay particular attention to emerging markets (Brazil, China and India) and be in the vanguard, making proposals.
Image is important, but it’s no substitute for business. With the crisis, everything has become more fragile, and Paris is not immune to weakness. There’s a problem of brand renewal in Paris, not because of a lack of notoriety, but rather because of a lack of volume. And that’s where I can help.
Even major brands have to rethink their strategy. Sales are just as important as image. There’s still a long way to go, especially when it comes to new means of telecommunication. Brands are aware that they have to go through this.
Blogs and online magazines offer tremendous potential in terms of communication. My plan is to do an “On line” show.
You don’t just communicate, you choose designers and brands for trade shows. How do you go about it?
My career is made up of passions, and I’m completely inhabited by my love of fashion. I have my own personal culture of fashion, and a particular eye for it. I’m drawn to offbeat universes, risk-taking and detour.
I love discovering atypical personalities and showcasing them, as was the case with Annabel Winship for The Box.
People are the basis of relationships. So there’s an emotional element in my job. But that’s more complicated in business, where the notion of volume comes into play. A trade show makes things easier, because it’s more of a showcase, an event that puts people and concepts in the spotlight.
We have to help designers. It’s never the first collection that’s difficult, it’s the orders. The difficulty lies in sales management. That’s where people fall down, because they’re designers first. They need the right team to help them in this area.
The accessories sector is more dynamic. In October, The Box will celebrate its 5th anniversary. And in 5 years, small designers have become big brands. They’ve perfectly understood management, but it’s easier in this field. And that’s the best reward of all.
We need to develop the commercial aspect and follow trends.
And what are the main trends for spring-summer 2012?
This year, pants will be in the spotlight, but with a retro twist: we’ll be seeing a lot of Jackie Kennedy-style darts, but also flare jeans and bell-bottoms with more modern cuts. The colors will be acidulous.
There will be a mix of feminine and casual. We’re returning to a quest for authenticity and comfort, while retaining added value, notably with a strong focus on detail. We’re entering the era of “slowear”, where we buy a piece that will last over time.
Accessories bring added value and eccentricity, especially with flashy colors. Big jewels, big volumes are back in force.
This season also sees the return of the long skirt.
We’re back to an accumulation of fairly basic ready-to-wear pieces. As if to thumb our noses at the crisis and prevailing gloom, we’re in the mood for hedonism and optimism.
How do you see the future?
Paris lacks a little energy. Parisian women are difficult, and we need a breath of fresh air from designers. We need to refocus our energies on Paris, develop major events and runway shows for the more affordable “bis” lines of designers.
We need to move towards more projects that mix business and image. Fashion Week is not enough. Trade shows are also a powerful tool for managing image and business.
But above all, we mustn’t forget that design is first and foremost about pleasure. The most important thing in fashion is pleasure.
Well, thank you for this interview and for your extraordinary personality.
We look forward to seeing you from September 03 to 06, 2011 at Porte de Versailles for PRET À PORTER PARIS, a new dynamic showcasing 1,300 fashion and accessories brands on two levels:
– ONLY PRET, the largest women’s wardrobe offering French and international buyers a ready-to-wear range structured by fashion universe, with the HEART OF PRET, ATMOSPHERE’S, SOETHIC and NEWTALENTS areas.
– ONLY ACCESSORIES, which brings together all the accessory universes found on THE BOX, MARO&GO, ACCESSORY&GO, SHOPEQUIP’.
Eight Pakistani ready-to-wear designers will be celebrated at ATMOSPHERES this season. They will be on show and on parade every day inAlexandra Senes ‘ Trendswash, the multidisciplinary trend office.
And the icing on the cake, designer Amaya Arzuaga, whose style is characterized by highly worked volumes and architectural structures, will be in the spotlight for this edition, dressing the PRET À PORTER PARIS hostesses.
We look forward to early September.
Marie-Odile Radom
Cette publication est également disponible en : Français (French)
