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Money-Makers: What Paris earns from Paris Fashion Week

By Vivian Hendriksz

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Fashion

London - With the final day of Milan Fashion Week wrapping up Monday evening, the international fashion pack moves on to the French capital for the start of the last major global fashion week, Paris Fashion Week. Running from February 28 to March 8, Paris Fashion Week Ready-to-Wear Autumn/Winter 2017 season will see 82 catwalk shows take place on schedule. This may be slightly less than the 91 runway shows which took place last season, but considering Paris Fashion Week is also one day shorter this season (8 days instead of 9), it's still a pretty full schedule.

Interested in reading more on how much money Paris Fashion Week, and other international fashion weeks generate? Then click here to read ‘The Top 20 Money-Making Fashion Weeks You May Not Know’.

How much money Paris earns from hosting Paris Fashion Week

Paris Fashion Week is predicted to welcome 30,000 unique visitors this season, as it will be a fashion week full of firsts and lasts for a number of the fashion houses presenting on schedule. Clare Waight Keller will oversee her last show as Creative Director for Chloé on March 2 before stepping down from her role on March 31 following an impressive six year tenure. Swedish fast-fashion retailer H&M will presents its Spring 2017 collection for its Studio line on March 1, before launching it for sale immediately in store, jumping on the 'See Now, Buy Now' bandwagon.

Three names are missing from the schedule this season as well, as Givenchy, Carven and Ungaro all opt to skip from showing at Paris Fashion Week. Following the exit of its creative director Riccardo Tisci, who served at the fashion house for 12 years, Givenchy announced it would be not be hosting a Paris Fashion Week show, but would be back to show on schedule in September 2017. Carven decided to skip a season in order to give its recently appointed creative director Serge Ruffieux time to settle into his new role and Ungaro no-show has been linked to the fact the brand's fall/winter 2017 collection manufacturer has entered into receivership. Hood By Air, which previously announced it would be moving its show from New York to Paris this season has also cancelled its upcoming show on March 5th, due to "unforeseen circumstances."

However there are a number of new faces set to join Paris Fashion Week this season, including Uma Wang, Jour/Ne and Atlein. In addition Rodarte announced it would be host a private Autumn 2017 presentation during Paris Fashion Week and luxury fashion house Christian Dior is set to mark its 70th anniversary with a historic collection runway event, featuring the second ready-to-wear range developed under the direction of Maria Grazia Chiuri. Other established and coveted fashion houses showing on schedule include Valentino, Lanvin, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Miu Miu, all headlining names which are sure to draw in a host of international press, buyers and social influencers. With such a big influx of unique visitors settling in the French capital for over a week, local business, restaurants, stores and hotels are likely to see a boost in sales during Paris Fashion Week. But how much of this income goes to the city of Paris itself? In this mini-series FashionUnited looks at how much money Paris gains from hosting the bi-annual Paris Fashion Week.

Key Figures for Paris Fashion Week AW17:

  • Unique visitors: 30,000
  • Total Income: 64.5 million euros
  • City Income: 11.5 million euros
  • Business Income: 53 million euros
  • Venue Income: 10 million euros
  • Restaurant Income: 18.5 million euros
  • Retail Income: 25.5 million euros
  • Accommodation Income: 10.5 million euros
  • Average Expenditure per Visitor: 1.823 euros

Following on from Milan Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week is set to bring in a total income of 64.5 million euros during the 8 day event according to FashionUnited's calculations. In order to work out the main costs of hosting a bi-annual fashion week and the income such an event generates for the local municipality, FashionUnited looked at the number of visitors that attend each fashion week; the average income and spend per visitor per fashion week; local hotel and food costs; sales taxes and applicable tourist fees, as well as corporate taxes and external expenditure.

Surprisingly, although Paris Fashion Week sees the likes of Chanel, Dior and Louis Vuitton showing on schedule, the international fashion event generates much less income in comparison to its counterparts in New York or London. Last year saw each Paris Fashion Week generate approximately 66 million euros following a series of terrorist attacks in the city in November 2015. This season, Paris Fashion Week is set to generate 1.5 million euros less in total in comparison to last year. However, the city of Paris itself it set to generate nearly the same as last season, earning 11.5 million euros this fashion week compared to 11.62 million euros last fashion week season.

This can be linked to a surge in retail spend, as visitors are predicted to spend more money shopping this season compared to last as well as more money on dining out. Each of the 30,000 unique visitors attending Paris Fashion Week is predicted to spend 1.823 euros on average during their stay in the city on dining out, accommodation and shopping. In addition, local businesses and venues rent out for fashion week presentations and shows are set to generation 53 million euros and 10 million euros respectively during the event. Local restaurants and retailers will also benefit from a surge in turnover during PFW, thanks to the influx of visitors, generating 18.5 million euros and 25.5 million euros respectively during the bi-annual fashion showcase. In addition, hotels, apartments and accommodation services are set to generate a total income of 10.5 million euros during Paris Fashion Week AW17.

In addition visitors to Paris Fashion Week are expected to spend 43 euros less on average per person during the event, which in part contributes to the decrease noted in the total income for PFW this season. Even though Paris Fashion Week is seen as one of the top four main global fashion weeks in terms of media coverage and fashion houses showing, according to FashionUnited's international Fashion Week ranking, Paris Fashion Week comes in 12th place in terms of total income generated per season during the bi-annual fashion event. In part this can be linked to the difference in unique visitors attending fashion week, as well as local taxes and fees per city, but it also shows that there is indeed more to each fashion week than just the list of brands and designers showing on schedule.

All expenses used in FashionUnited’s calculations are based on an academic research on New York Fashion Week from 2014, which divides income from several sources including local venues, retail stores, restaurants and hotels and is verified by NYCEDC. FashionUnited’s AW17 update for Paris Fashion Week has been verified by the local municipality of Paris.

Homepage photo credit: Chanel SS17, Catwalkpictures.com

Photo 1: Dior SS17, Catwalkpicutres.com

Photo 2: Chanel SS17, Catwalkpictures.com

Photo 3: Valentino SS17, Catwalkpictures.com

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Money-Makers
Paris Fashion Week