Last weekend we found ourselves at the Salon International de la Lingerie in Paris. This was the third time our blog attended the fair and as usual it was a very interesting and informative experience. We had the chance to speak and see the upcoming swimwear and underwear collections of many brands from Europe such as Alexander COBB (Denmark), Exuma (Turkey) and Geronimo (Bulgaria), meet brands from other parts of the world such as TOOT (Japan), Shan (Canada) and JOR (Colombia) and see the first ever collections of the new brands Bonne Clé (Netherlands) and Aurele (Belgium). We met the guys who make the mens underwear of Bikkembergs and Ermenegildo Zegna in Italy and saw the new collections of German brands: Ceceba, Gotzburg and Tom Taylor.
Alexander COBB
The brand is based in Denmark and launched in 2013. You have probably seen quite a few posts on this blog about them featuring their campaigns and “themed” underwear lines. Their new collection is really beautiful, with bright and classic colours and customised prints, high quality fabrics and waistbands. You will still find some of their well-known fragrant underwear made from a special fabric with scented microcapsules which release a very appetising strawberry scent! The brand is quite popular in Australia and the Caribbean and growing in popularity in Europe and the US.
Official website: Alexander COBB
Geronimo
The brand is based in Bulgaria and was established in 2000. The very friendly guys of Geronimo had the 2016 swimwear collection on display and we must say it looked fantastic. Golden tones along with some very interesting prints (including a 3D one which looked very impressive). Geronimo is the biggest brand in Bulgaria and quite popular in the UK, France and the US. Their collection comes in 5 sizes (from small to 2XL). Official website: Geronimo
Shan Homme
One of the brands we came across first time was Shan. The brand is based in Canada and is specialising in women’s swimwear. Very recently they have started manufacturing mens underwear and swimwear and they look fantastic! The name of the brand comes from Shan himself. His mother is the owner of the brand and she has decided, while pregnant, to give her company the name of her son. Shan has grown to become a very charming guy and the person who designs their mens collection. High quality products, very easy to wear, all made in Montreal with fabrics imported from Italy. Keep an eye on this brand, we are pretty sure we will see a lot more from them in the future. Official website: Shan
TOOT
We all love TOOT. The brand is based is Japan and their minuscule briefs are among our all time favourites. The brand has their 2015 collection on display along with some items from their upcoming 2016 collection. The brand was established in 2001 and their collection ranges from highly creative designs to very straight forward underwear and everything in between. It is certainly one of the biggest brands of Japan and are looking to expand to the USA and Europe. Their upcoming underwear collection’s is yet again very colourful with navy blue being the most predominant. The brand has also recently expanded their collection to include mens sportswear. You will find them as TSX (TOOT Sports Exclusive). Also TOOT has some outstanding designs under the brand name ZEES, all in black or white with some incredibly sexy cuts. Official website: TOOT
JOR
You have probably seen JOR being featured quite a few times on this blog. Is a brand famous for its vibrant designs, based in Colombia. JOR is releasing an entirely new collection every 6 months. We were able to see their upcoming collection and there were some outstanding designs. Our favourite being a brief with semi transparent and opaque stripes all in a beautiful peach colour. The representation of the brand in France we met at the fair, had a also a great model with them who was very willing to try on all different cuts for us to see. Official website: JOR
Bonne Clé
The brand has launched in 2015 and is based in The Netherlands. Their first collection, “Black and White”, comprises trunks and boxers and looked very classy, well made, with a good attention to detail. The brand uses tencel fabric for all their designs which is amazingly soft. We really liked the classic look of their underwear and most of all their very classy waistbands. Small but well thought design details, contour but close fitting pouch, and seamless sides and back for better comfort. One more brand to keep an eye to. We had a quick, exclusive glimpse at their upcoming, second collection and the colours are just stunning!
Official website: Bonne Clé
Ceceba
The brand is based in Germany and is present in the sportswear and underwear market since 1893! If you are a fan of classic underwear then you really need to check this brand. Their collection is very big, with more than 150 designs on offer currently on their website. Classic cuts, briefs, boxers and boxer shorts in a variety of colours. waistbands and patterns. In the fair in Paris we were able to have a quick look at their upcoming swimwear collection which we are hoping will become also available on their website. Official website: Ceceba
