Americans May Shun Paris Shows : Fashion Buyers Cite Fear of Terrorism

Major U.S. retailers, fearful of terrorism, are canceling plans to attend the spring ready-to-wear designer showings in Paris, casting doubt on whether the shows will be held.

The confederation of top French designers, after voting last week to proceed with the shows, has decided to meet again to reconsider that decision, according to several sources in the industry.

Stores opting out of the runway shows, which begin Oct. 15, say they will send their usual or a slightly smaller contingent of buyers to Paris, with instructions to keep low profiles and to view the collections only in the designers’ showrooms.

Among retailers who have advised their personnel not to attend the flashy showings are Neiman-Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, I. Magnin, Saks Fifth Avenue and Ann Taylor.

Press Also Canceling

In another unprecedented move, it also appears that some key members of the fashion press, the designers’ target audience at the shows, will not attend due to recent terrorist activities.

Grace Mirabella, editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, will go to designer showrooms in Paris but not to the designers’ shows (presented in huge tents in the Louvre courtyard), said Maggie Posnick in Mirabella’s office. And Harper’s Bazaar special projects editor Michele Morgan Mazzola said that her publication has wired the confederation of designers that nobody from that publication will attend the shows. Mazzola said that Harper’s Bazaar executive fashion editor June Weir, three assistants and a photographer would attempt to cover the collections in the designers’ showrooms.

Herbert Fink, owner of the Theodore, Sonia Rykiel and Claude Montana shops in Beverly Hills, said he will go to Paris as usual. But he has not decided whether he’ll attend the shows. “If I do, I will limit the number of shows I go to.”

Brian Jenkins, director of the Rand Corp.’s research program on political violence, said that fear in the American fashion industry is “understandable” in view of recent terrorist bombings in Paris. But it may be misdirected, he said. “The buyers may be in no greater danger inside those tents than they are walking down any boulevard in Paris or sitting in any French restaurant or hotel. The problem is that the bombing campaign is a random campaign. They are hitting department stores, shopping centers . . . and that is virtually impossible to protect against.

“In a random campaign such as this, whether or not you’re a victim tends to be a matter of happenstance, of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And there’s no way of predicting what the wrong place will be. The Americans are going to Paris, they’ll be eating in restaurants, walking the streets. In effect, they are just as much at peril doing that as they are inside a tent. At least the tents will have some measure of security.”

During top designer shows, about 3,000 store executives, journalists and photographers from around the world are packed into a seated, standing and crouching arrangement that would preclude escape for most in case of an emergency.

Deciding At Last Moment

Sonia Caproni, vice president and fashion director of the I. Magnin stores, said that she may change her mind and go, despite the store’s original decision not to attend. “If nothing happens between now and the time of the shows, and if we’re confident of the security arrangements, we’ll go. I’ll probably decide when I’m in Paris, then call Steven Somers (the store’s chief executive officer and chairman), and confer with him. Together we’ll decide,” Caproni said.

Mary Russell, fashion director of Elle Magazine, has scheduled private appointments with her favorite designers. “As for the shows,” she said, “I’ll just wait and see. We’ve heard some designers may bring their collections to New York this season.”

A spokesman for The Broadway Southern California stores said that executives who usually attend the Paris showings will not do so this season because of activities related to the gala charity opening of the new Broadway South Coast Plaza store on Oct. 31.

Executives who represent the confederation, Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, talk positively about the safety precautions that will be taken in the Louvre courtyard.

However, two confederation members, Paris designers Thierry Mugler and Chantal Thomass, announced late last week that they are canceling their shows and will present collections only in their showrooms. Mugler’s office said the decision was made because of the reduced audience expected in the tents erected for the 10 days of showings.

Yves Saint Laurent’s show has so far not been canceled, but the firm has invited some buyers and journalists to see the collection in the showroom rather than the tents.