The Fifth edition of the PLAYTIME New York Show will take place from August 4th to 6th. Located in the chic neighborhood of SoHo, PLAYTIME is a boutique trade show that enables buyers, retailers, and agents to discover select children products with unique designs.   For the second time this year, UBIFRANCE will come to the show with 10 French brands featuring innovative and trendy products in children’s apparel, accessories, shoes, decoration …   Come discover childhood with a French twist! More information about the participating French brands coming soon.   Location: 82 Mercer Street, SoHo – New York, NY www.playtimenewyork.com   Follow us on Twitter and facebook , or join the French / North- American Fashion Business Group on LinkedIn

UBIFRANCE is proud to announce its 3 rd edition of its French Pavilion on SUPPLIERS’ DAY, the major trade show for cosmetic ingredients in the United States, organized by the NYSCC (New York Society of Cosmetic Chemists). The event will take place on May 15 th and 16 th 2012 in New Jersey, in the heart of the New York Cosmetic Valley. 373 companies will be exhibiting and more than 7,000 visitors are expected. R&D teams of major beauty companies will attend (Johnson & Johnson, Estée Lauder, L’Oréal…). The 16 French exhibitors are Agrimer, Bioalternatives, Biosynthis, Cordouan Technologies, Dermscan, Idea, Interpolymer, Minasolve, Naolys, Oroxcell, Parfumerie Tiki, Plant Advanced Technologies, SACI-CFPA, Setalg, Starlight Products and Technature. Click here to view the catalog .

  UBIFRANCE United States is organizing for the second consecutive year a French Pavilion to showcase 14 established and emerging French designers at the Accessorie Circuit Show . The event will be held May 7-9, 2012 at Piers 92 & 94 in New York City. Among the exhibitors, some familiar brand names stand out: Vanessa TUGENDHAFT , Appartement à louer , Créations Jean-Louis BLIN, Françoise Montague, Bernard Serra et Philippe Audibert . Among the newcomers, we are pleased to welcome: Recife Paris , Katarina M , Saoya , Elisabeth Riveiro , KMO Jewel , Victoria & Yo , Caroline Najman , Maire International. The collections feature a variety of trendy jewelry, chic handbags and hair accessories. This is a great opportunity for industry designers, consultants and retailers to network, to learn the latest trends and to acquire further exposure. The pavilion is organized by UBIFRANCE , and brought to you in partnership with Francéclat , The French Federation of Jewelry. For more information, please contact: anamaria.schell@ubifrance.fr or visit the website . The tradeshow is open to trade and press only. You can order your trade visitor badge to Accessorie Circuit here: www.enkregistrations.com    We invite you to connect via Twitter @UBIfashion and to join our  French/North-American Fashion Business  Group on LinkedIn.

Best known for selling books and electronics, as well as its Kindle e-reader, Amazon.com Inc. has placed its focus on becoming a bigger player in the fashion business. The Seattle-headquartered Fortune 500 company recently placed ad campaigns in glossy consumer magazines and hired seasoned fashion veterans as buyers for the apparel offerings sold in its Amazon Clothing Store . It’s another step in the company’s ambitious mission to offer the world’s biggest market of goods. Amazon commands one of the biggest online audiences in the United States. In December, digital business analytics company comScore Inc. ranked Amazon as America’s fifth-most-visited Internet site, right after Facebook . But Amazon has also made an effort to build its brand offline. The e-commerce site took out a two-page spread to promote the Amazon Clothing Store in the March and April issues of Lucky . It also has been running ads for its ShopBop division in consumer fashion magazine Elle . Amazon acquired ShopBop in 2006. Footwear e-tailer Zappos joined the Amazon portfolio in 2009. In the past eight months, Amazon revved up its fashion business by hiring experienced buyers from traditional powerhouse retailers. One recent hire was Amy Glick, who spent more than 10 years at Nordstrom Inc. Former Barneys New York fashion director Julie Gilhart was brought on as a consultant to elevate Amazon’s merchandising mix. And Amazon buyers shop trade shows such as MAGIC , Agenda and the Los Angeles Fashion Market . “Amazon is a key and vitally growing women’s retailer now,” said Liza Stewart, who runs her self-named Liza Stewart Inc. showroom in Los Angeles. “It’s working hard to establish itself as well as compete in being the ‘go-to site’ for fashion.” read the full article on apparelnews.net

  Last week, UBIFRANCE United States wrapped up the second edition of the French Pavilion at the International Home & Housewares Show in Chicago (March 10 th -13 th , 2012). With nearly 2,100 exhibitors from 125 countries present at the show, the French Pavilion featured 12 French companies, 4 of which exhibited for the first time .  Both traditional and innovative houseware collections were on display.   Keeping with the current trends in the United States housewares market, colorful items received particular interest from buyers, including Apilco ’s colorful porcelain items from their ‘Colorama collection’, Siguret Concept ’s platinum silicone bakeware shaped as peppers, Fresh Mill ’s hand operated herb mincers, as well as Gimex International ’s multifunctional Ice.bag.     Claude Dozorme ’s knife-sets along with their individual specialty knives & spreaders were presented by color-story and appealed to both modern and traditional households alike.   Opinel ’s eye popping kitchen-cutlery essentials were a crowd favorite and Spoiler Alert by FreezCube exhibited for the first time at the show with their primary-colored food safety device. Thion-Arvix also inspired visitors to dress up their kitchen & bath with its collection of mats, sink liners and other home textiles: all with a positively French flare.   As expected, France’s strong tradition in Knives, Baking and Wine consumption were on exhibit featuring products from Laguiole en Aubrac , Vauzy Chassangue , Daudi   and L’Atelier du  Vin .   Discover our fabulous exhibitors by clicking directly on their company name, above! See you next year at the International Home & Housewares Show 2013!   Follow us on Twitter @UBIdecor and join our French / North American Decor Business LinkedIn group.    

For the first time at PLAYTIME New York (March 10-12) , UBIFRANCE introduced six French designers that presented their exclusive winter collections of Kids’ Fashion ( LEsprit de Luna ; Louann ; Moon Et Miel ; Pile Poil Paris ; Le Vestiaire de Jeanne ), Shoes ( Pom dApi ) and Interior Design for Babies Room ( Pile Poil Paris ). PLAYTIME New York, the international trade show dedicated to the Universe of Children has been growing for the past 2 years and is now recognized as the “boutique trade show” that features high-end and contemporary children’s lines. The show is held in a very warm and bright space in the chic area of SoHo in NYC; more than 80 exhibitors were featured during this last session. To enhance the exposure of the French exhibiting companies, UBIFRANCE partnered with EARNSHAW’S Magazine, the Premier Children’s Apparel magazine in the United States. For most of the French designers, this was a first approach to the U.S. market ; they were very excited about the show, the new contacts they made and the opportunities ahead. The visitors were also very enthusiastic about the new lines they discovered. Don’t miss out on the next edition of PLAYTIME New York with new French exhibitors on August 4-6, 2012. F ollow us on Twitter @UBIfashion and join our   French / North-American Fashion Business  Group on LinkedIn  

Jennifer Cattaui is the Editor-in-Chief at EARNSHAW’S Magazine, the Premier Children’s Apparel magazine in the US. She has also created and been running for the past 7 years the specialty stores in New York City and online retailer for babies & children: BABESTA.   As EARNSHAW’S and UBIFRANCE put together a partnership and a game  to support the French companies exhibiting at the upcoming PLAYTIME New York Show (March 10-12), Jennifer Cattaui shares with us her insights regarding Babies & Kids Fashion in the US. She provides us with advice and tips on how to success on the US Market, and highlights the strengths and the assets of French designers on the children’s market.   Click the following link to listen to this expert of the Universe of Children! (Please do not mind the French introduction, the podcast comes in English)