At Paris Fashion Week, Small Brands Are Skipping Runway Shows

PARIS – At Paris Fashion Week, smaller brands are feeling the crunch.

While some big houses are decamping for one season, a number of emerging and independent labels are opting out of runway shows entirely as they weigh their budgets amid a shrinking wholesale sector, soft consumer spending, trade volatility and rising costs.

The final calendar for fall 2026 features 67 runway shows, down from 74 last season, and 31 presentations, compared with 37 last fall.

“We’re operating in a shifting landscape when it comes to the outlets available to emerging brands,” said Pascal Morand, executive president of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, or FHCM, which in recent years has launched a range of initiatives designed to support fledgling labels.

“They have to be not just creative, but also to figure out innovative new ways to distribute their collections and build their communities,” he added.

Among the brands that showed in September and are absent this season are Valentino, Maison Margiela, Sacai, Thom Browne, Casablanca, Christopher Esber, Coperni, Vetements, Giambattista Valli, Meryll Rogge and Leonard.

Industry observers said the Saks Global bankruptcy, combined with the wave of closures and restructurings affecting e-commerce platforms like Ssense, Matches and Farfetch, loom large over independent labels’ decision to step off the show carousel. 

“But honestly, it’s not that straightforward. I feel like everyone has their own reasons, and more and more we’re seeing brands doing just one show a year,” said Lucien Pagès, whose public relations and communications agency represents luxury brands like Saint Laurent and Schiaparelli and emerging designers including Zomer and Ludovic de Saint Sernin.

Some are diversifying their schedules with destination shows designed to generate more focused media attention and cultural impact outside of otherwise saturated seasons.

Valentino revealed in December that it will exceptionally hold its next fashion show in Rome on March 12. Maison Margiela will show in Shanghai on April 1, as part of a wider brand activation in China, and Thom Browne unveiled his collection in San Francisco in the runup to the Super Bowl.

Others are in flux, as the game of designer musical chairs continues. Rogge, who made her debut as creative director of Marni in Milan, indicated she would return to Paris in June. Leonard said it was sitting out the season after parting ways with creative director Georg Lux, with plans to return in October.

Still others are searching for new owners or investors.

After canceling his haute couture show, Giambattista Valli has also dropped out of the ready-to-wear calendar, having initially planned a show on March 6. According to market sources, parent company Artémis, the private investment arm of the billionaire Pinault family, has been quietly exploring a sale of the company in recent months.

A New Reality

With fashion brands increasingly staging big entertainment events, houses with conglomerate backing can draw global attention with celebrity-packed shows, leaving independent designers fighting for attention.

In a calendar dominated by having Beyoncé or Blackpink’s Jisoo in the front row, smaller brands can struggle to be seen in showrooms and on social media. And with even a small show costing upward of 100,000 euros, independent designers are increasingly questioning whether the ROI is worth staging one at all.

“Fashion shows are incredibly expensive, and for smaller or emerging houses, they’re a massive investment — often their biggest one. It’s really hard to get a return on that investment, and at the same time, it’s their main communication tool. But we’ve realized that even with just one show a year, you can still make a real impact,” Pagès said.

One of his clients, Coperni, is absent because of a dispute with fashion development platform Tomorrow London, the brand’s shareholder and distributor since 2019.  

“This relationship has since deteriorated significantly, to the point that Coperni no longer has the means to support its development. In this context, and out of respect for our teams, our partners and our work, we have taken the decision not to stage a fashion show this season,” cofounders Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant said in a statement.

“It reflects our determination to fully regain control of Coperni’s destiny, to preserve its integrity, and to write a new chapter — independently and always in an innovative way,” they added.

Stefano Martinetti, chief executive officer and cofounder of Tomorrow, declined to comment on the Coperni situation, but noted there has been a profound shift in the fashion wholesale and showroom landscape.

Showrooms are now relying on hundreds of small, multibrand retailers rather than large department stores, with multiple orders between $20,000 and $40,000 requiring a renewed focus on one-to-one relationships. “It’s a lot like the old way of working,” he said.  

These boutiques know their customer, and are generally less focused on experimental, directional indie designers. Meanwhile, payment terms have become more stringent, and orders are pre-approved selectively, prioritizing security over growth. 

“Volumes are going down, and they are kept down by the inability of brands or showrooms or distributors to offer more credit,” Martinetti said.

Tomorrow now prefers to book smaller orders with strict payment terms rather than big-dollar deals with more flexible standards. “Two years ago, I would go with the $2 million [order] because growth and size was everything. Now, it’s more the security, if there is [a guarantee] of being able to complete the trade,” he explained.

This has impacted the cash flow of designers, who have in turn sought new revenue streams, such as direct-to-consumer sales.

“The truth is that the illusion of building a brand which goes global in three to five years, which seemed to be the new norm between 2015 and 2021, was, in fact, an exceptional time in the cycle of fashion, and it doesn’t seem to be repeatable anymore. Instead, a brand needs 10 years to gain the right to survive and exist, and 10 years to understand the customer. And in a way, that’s more natural and as it should be,” Martinetti said.

Building a Community

Jeanne Friot, who showed her genderless fall collection in January on the men’s calendar, noted that due to the changing retail landscape, designers today don’t have the same opportunity for a big, single-order transformative sale that can make or break a young brand.

“Because wholesale and retail is going down, we need to have new strategies and bring our work direct to consumers,” she said.

Over the last year, she’s focused on pop-ups, digital sales and custom, made-to-measure orders. Community building through the pop-ups is another key to growth, a strategy she hopes to expand to Berlin and London.

“We had a few pop-ups in Paris, and we sold a lot of pieces, so we’re working mainly on producing every piece for our clients to be delivered,” she said. “A lot of people are coming back to the studio to generate made-to-measure pieces also, so it’s really this idea of going back to what it was before — going back to craftsmanship.”

Balthazar Delepierre, cofounder of Ester Manas, said the Brussels-based size-inclusive label stopped working with Tomorrow by mutual agreement two years ago. Its last runway show was in September 2024.

“We could feel things shifting on the retailer side — orders were getting tighter, especially on larger sizes — so we decided to take back control of how our collections are distributed and, more broadly, of the brand’s entire business model,” he explained.

“We put wholesale on hold to transition toward a primarily direct-to-consumer approach. That’s allowed us to sell in more territories while staying true to our commitment to size inclusivity. It’s also given us clear proof that there’s a solid, committed market for what we do, while giving us much tighter control over our drop calendar, margins and customer relationships,” he added.

The brand is now looking for investors to get to the next level. “We like to say we’re only at 1 percent of what we want this brand to become. There are investment talks happening right now — whether timing ends up working for us or just adds another challenge to the mix, we’ll have to see,” Delepierre said.

With young designers increasingly prioritizing strategic business investments over costly runway shows, Marine Serre skipped last season to focus on opening her first store worldwide in South Korea. 

Her fall collection, developed in collaboration with the Louvre museum, was unveiled via a painterly look book released ahead of the second Grand Dîner du Louvre. Serre planned to attend Tuesday’s gala with special guests, creating a high-impact media moment without the expense of a runway show.

“I wanted to slow things down with this collection. I felt it made more sense to show it through images, since I draw so much inspiration from paintings. A traditional show would not have captured that, because the lighting is not the same. And I wanted something that stood the test of time — a show is so fleeting,” she explained.

Space for Everyone

Morand said that during this period of turbulence, French fashion’s governing body is adapting to the needs of smaller brands and extending its network of partnerships to support their growth.

“We know times aren’t easy, so it’s crucial to provide expertise, a steady presence and comprehensive information to meet these challenges,” he said. “The sector’s energy comes not just from the big houses, but also from all the young designers who need support to break through.”

Last year, the federation’s Support Fund for Emerging Brands extended grants totaling 190,000 euros to 18 labels based outside France, including 10 womenswear brands. Under the scheme, they qualify for a subsidy of 10,000 euros for a fashion show and 5,000 euros for a presentation.

Brands based in France are entitled to funding from the Committee for the Development and Promotion of French Clothing, better known by its acronym DEFI, which provides financial and practical support for young designers and has helped launch brands including Jacquemus and Ami Paris.

It funneled 600,000 euros to ready-to-wear and haute couture brands in 2025, in addition to financing four editions of the Sphere showroom — two for women’s, and two for men’s — to the tune of 366,000 euros.

Free for participating brands, the showroom — running at the Palais de Tokyo from Tuesday to March 10 — will feature nine brands: J. Simone, Matho, Riz Poli, Sevali, Sonney, Vautrait, Victor Clavelly, Weinsanto and Act N.1. The latter is the latest beneficiary of a mutual support partnership with Italy’s Camera della Moda, and a similar collaboration will be launched with Copenhagen Fashion Week next fall.

While the federation does not provide financial advice, it can refer brands to the Institut Français de la Mode, or IFM, which runs a Labels Accelerator program that benefits six young creative brands a year by providing a diagnosis and personalized coaching covering strategic, financial, organizational, marketing and digital aspects. 

The FHCM also has partnerships with audit, tax and consulting firm RSM; Zedonk, maker of specialist ERP software, and Stellae International, which specializes in logistics, import and e-commerce solutions for the luxury and fashion industries.

Paris Fashion Week organizers have eyes on roughly 80 emerging labels worldwide through competitions including the LVMH Prize for Young Designers, the ANDAM Prize, the Hyères festival and the ITS contest in Trieste; fashion schools, and scouting trips to locations including the U.S., Japan, China and Brazil.

Attracting these up-and-coming talents to Paris is key to maintaining the city’s reputation as the global capital of fashion, Morand said.

“International brands know Paris is the place to showcase their creativity. They know that’s expected and rewarded, but it can’t be limited to just the big players and midsized companies. Creativity needs to thrive at all levels,” he explained.

“Balancing the calendar so every brand, no matter its size, gets the respect and space it deserves is crucial. That’s a long-term commitment. It’s tricky, it’s tough, but it’s our job,” Morand said.

Making a Splash

Once accepted into the official calendar, brands can now sit out a season without having to apply again — although if they miss two seasons, they lose their slot.

“Since the coronavirus pandemic, things have loosened up a bit. Before, skipping a season was a no-go. It meant you were struggling. Now, it shows you’re taking a conscious approach to your business plan,” Pagès said.

“Everyone is figuring out their own approach in order to stay visible without breaking the bank. It’s really about being smarter with budgets, weighing what’s worth the investment in terms of impact, communication and spending, and making the most of what you’ve got,” he added.

For brands that opt for a presentation, Pagès cautioned that it’s no longer enough to just show clothes on a rack.

“There are so many other ways to get people talking about your work, and they’ll see the clothes again during press days anyway. You can always do something outside of fashion week. But if you do a presentation, it has to be really well-timed and spectacular — something that actually stands out,” he said.

“Now there are major shows happening almost every hour. It’s not like before, when there was more breathing room. The schedule is so tight that even finding a slot for a presentation is a nightmare, and you’re always worried people won’t be able to make it because of traffic or just running out of time,” Pagès added.

At the end of the day, brands need to weigh the pros and cons between fueling visibility and guaranteeing sales volume.

“Fashion week is still great if you want international exposure, because that’s when everyone is in town,” Pagès said. “But you can also make waves outside of it. The tricky part is timing: if you want to push sales, you need to make your move before the market opens. So it really depends on your business and how much buzz will actually help drive sales.”