From June 12-15, we will expose Jean Rousseau’s latest products and innovations at two key trade fairs: the EPJH (Professional environment watchmaking jewelry) in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Pitti Uomo in Florence, Italy. Both fairs are renowned and therefore represent opportunities to meet clients from all over the world and to make us known.

Although both are important, they do not meet the same goals. At the EPJH, where watchmaking brands come to know more about watch-bracelet innovations, we insist on the technical dimension of our work: new workmanships on an alligator skin, rubber or fabric, trout or salmon leathers for instance. At the Pitti Uomo, one of the largest international events for menswear and men accessories, we rather imagine a whole theme around which we will build our booth. The idea is to take into account fashion trends while distinguishing ourselves from the competition. It’s a delicate balancing act! This year, we chose the “the adventurer man” as our theme, and favored kaki, rust and camel colors. The artistic part of this choice belongs to me but has to be validated by the entire team of course.

As interesting as these fairs are, they represent a huge amount of work. We must comply with the rules linked to the organization, make sure all skins and products will be ready and sent in time, taking into account the specific regulation linked to exotic skins. We also need to prepare online catalogs for wholesale platforms such as JOOR. Last but not least, we must organize our employees’ trip. In addition to sales representatives, some of our craftsmen accompany us to do live demonstrations of their know-how, which promotes the work of the Manufacture.

In brief, this “trade fair period” is incredibly intense! But they also are an occasion to see fun stuff, such as unreasonable booths where decoration ends up replacing the product. At Jean Rousseau, we stay loyal to our image: simple in the approach, very demanding on the quality.