Catwalks, trend forums, conferences… All different sorts of activities are going to liven up Hall 7 at Porte de Versailles during the next session of Who's Next Prêt-à-Porter Paris, taking place from January 21-24, 2012. The fair's organiser, WSN Développement, has decided to move the catwalk shows to the second floor of the building hosting the Private segment. “We are keeping the same time slot as the previous sessions, with catwalk shows still happening everyday at 12:30pm", explained Boris Provost, WSN’s communication and international development manager. “However, we have decided to bring all of the brands’ catwalk shows together instead of having them on different stands. We are also going to bring out young international designers of eclectic styles.”

Meanwhile, the catwalk event is also going to welcome candidates from 22 regions who will be competing for the title of Miss Ronde France, a beauty pageant launched in 2005 for the plus-size woman. Products for plus size ladies will also be available at the fair.

On top of the shows, the next edition of Who's Next Prêt-à-Porter Paris will also host three trend forums that will enlighten visitors on the latest fashion trends for women’s, men’s (Mr Brown) and children’s (Mini Mess) wear. Parisian trend forecasting agency Nelly Rodi will host a daily forum on clothes for women and children, while WGSN’s specialists host conferences around the season’s trends in general.

A ‘personal shopper’ service will also be available in order to enhance the visitor experience. “Personal shoppers already existed at Prêt-à-Porter Paris and 70 buyers enjoyed their services at the fair’s previous edition. Now we have decided to raise its visibility and develop the service. The idea is to offer visitors a programme that is based around their interests. Our VIP buyers will be able to take advantage of this service”, said Boris Provost.

Finally, the trade show will promote new talents by hosting a blog competition between 15 young designers (5 from the Private segment, 5 from menswear and 5 from MessAround), as well as another competition with the help of British website Artsthread.co.uk, which represents around 60 design schools from across the world. Each one of them will suggest a winner and the top 10 will be given their own stand at the trade show.

This is yet another step in the Parisian fair’s international ambition. In the next coming days, the organisation will be visiting countries with large markets such as Japan, South Korea, Italy and Spain in order to promote its new features. Its communication plan, edited in 15 different languages and containing a presentation sheet, will be posted to around 160,000 visitors around the globe over the next few days.