At the heart of Who’s Next’s Curve area, you couldn’t miss the Valège booth, where the iconic French lingerie brand showcased its most iconic styles along with its new best sellers. Combined, they offer a wide range of sophisticated evening wear and every day fits, both daring and easy-going, reflecting a growing desire for a fashionable lingerie that women can proudly display. We caught up with Laurence Perez, the brand’s General Manager, to discuss femininity and cross-generational collaboration.

What are your objectives for this new Lingerie edition ?

We intend to meet multi-brand, ready-to-wear stores that want to integrate lingerie into their concept. Today, lingerie plays on both fields : it is worn over and under. It’s a very successful match.

So it makes sense for you to be showcased among ready-to-wear brands.

It does ! It makes sense to combine these two segments. We’ve been in the business for thirty years and have always attend the Salon International de la Lingerie. We also have strong relationships with our partners who we keep in touch with throughout the year, so this Who’s Next session is a good opportunity to make new encounters and open new distribution perspectives, that can lead to some very exciting projects.

How does visiting Interfilière Paris while exhibiting at Curve and Who’s Next help also help you build this this bridge ?

Being able to attend both at the same time is an advantage because it allows us to understand the market’s needs and apply them simultaneously in our search for fabrics. We can reflect on the complexity of women in real time.

What are your thoughts about these new directions ?

We always make sure our collections include visible, daytime lingerie. It has remained hidden for a long time but nowadays women want it to be more glamorous, more out-there. Our best sellers are tops that can be worm both over and under, in multiple colors, and paired with pants and a blazer. It’s very feminine, yet simple and light. Lingerie has two facets that reflect women’s multiple identities, you have to be able to adapt.

Valège is a family-owned brand. Does it help keeping pace with major market evolutions ?

It certainly does. It is a great strength to have several generations working together. We must always combine our experience with the vibe of the moment and keep the Valège DNA while preparing for the future, which will be dictated by the children of the women who have known us. Working as a family helps us create this bond.