IB&Fashion in Paris – 12

Paris: A Hub of International Business Activity

Paris is a city filled with great potential as well as already existing international businesses. While in Paris it was evident the amount of global companies shown on every street. This was not surprising though because Paris is a very large city much like New York. Every street I walked down had stores with familiar signs including Armani, Long champ, Louis Vuitton, Lacost, Marc Jacobs, and even Starbucks. It is evident all over Europe that while shopping you will run into the same brands everywhere you go. The market is dominated by global brands and Paris has the flagship stores of many of them.

IB&Fashion in Paris – 11

The Broad Spectrum of International Business in Paris

During my stay in Paris for six days, I experienced as much as I possibly could, including Parisian art, food, architecture, and shopping. While I traveled around the city I was astonished to see the broad spectrum of businesses that were present there. Being a fashion merchandising major, I was looking most forward to seeing all the clothing and designer stores, since Paris is one of the fashion capitals of the world. All of the stores I expected to see were present in the city including Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Chanel, Diane Von Furstenberg, Gucci, Zara, H&M, and many more.

IB&Fashion in Paris – 10

I studied in Paris, France these past 6 days and I see now why it is one of the fashion capital of the world. There are countless designer and merchandisers, for example, Louis Vuitton and Coco Chanel, who have started their collections in Paris and started broadening their business to other countries. While I was there I got to see museums and demonstrations on how Paris does their business outside of Europe.

IB&Fashion in Paris – 9

Paris was amazing. This short sentence and choice adjective certainly do not do this historically rich city any justice, but I had a wonderful time that was beyond amazing. I didn’t have many presumptions about Paris, I only assumed that it would be chic and delightful. The city that awaited me upon arrival held many pleasant surprises.

IB&Fashion in Paris – 8

Paris is a beautiful and thriving city known for its world renowned artwork such as the Mona Lisa, architecture such as the Eiffel Tour, museums such as the Louvre, and culture, but most of all Paris is known for being an extremely fashion forward city. Designers such as Coco Chanel, and Louis Vuitton originated in Paris and are now known worldwide both for their haute couture and ready to wear clothing and accessories.

IB&Fashion in Paris – 7

My experiences in Paris, France this past week were honestly unbelievable. Also, just being in this International Business class for a few weeks has helped me to realize the importance that business has in fashion. It was definitely very easy to spot, especially in such a big city. One of my favorite sites that our program had visited was Premiere Vision. Premiere Vision allows fashion and fabric collections to be displayed to buyers for future projects. Exhibitors and buyers can sell and/or purchase fabulous fabrics, laces, trims, beading, labels and more, as well as research into a wide collections of accessories, shoes, scarves, tote bags and more!

IB&Fashion in Paris – 6

International business is prevalent in Paris and one is able to see its influence in every nook and cranny and on every street corner. Retail is a huge part of Parisian society and it is clear by looking at the fashion savvy citizens and tourists that the business of fashion is a major driving force in the economy. From my observation, the majority of people in France seem to have a difference of opinion when it comes to fashion than the majority of my fellow Americans.

IB&Fashion in Paris – 5

Throughout my five days in Paris, I experienced a lot of international businesses; both multi-domestic and non. On Saturday, I visited “Euro Disney” which is Paris’s version of Disneyworld (originated in Orlando, Florida). It seemed that it wasn’t multi-domestic because a lot of things were just recreated from the American version. The only real adaptation Disney made was French being the main language, however most things were still accompanied by the English translation. All of the characters looked and acted similar, they even sang songs in English. While Disney is definitely a global company (now expanding to Hong Kong as well), it did not seem to be multi-domestic. However I thought they did a really good job recreating a smaller version of Orlando’s Disneyworld in Europe.

IB&Fashion in Paris – 4

I had a very fascinating and interesting experience in Paris. I did not have high expectations for the trip because I never had a huge interest in going there but it definitely exceeded my standards. The fashion world in Paris is different than I ever thought. It is more of an economical business than it is in America. It seems that everyone takes fashion more seriously there. Paris continues to prove itself as the heart of innovation and developing new products.

IB&Fashion in Paris – 3

While in Paris for the Fashion study tour class we had to do cool hunting to see what the popular fashions were in Paris and see what was popular. I did a lot of people watching to see what they were wearing and how they were wearing it. Overall most of the Parisians dress to a higher standard of fashion compared to Americans. Paris was like Florence in the aspect that they all are dressed casual or dressy just for their everyday activities. Unlike many Americans who will gym apparel out instead of trying to dress what is in style for the season.