EgonLab, Meryll Rogge, Ouest Paris: Revamped wholesale strategies

Paris Fashion Week is shining with creativity. But the event also provides an opportunity for brands and independent designers to address current issues or adapt their strategies to changes in consumer behavior or the realities of distribution networks. FashionNetwork.com takes a deep dive into the real-world passions and concerns of designers with Meryll Rogge, the duo Kévin Nompeix and Valentin Glémarec of EgonLab), and Arthur Robert from Ouest Paris.

Meryll Rogge unveils collection available on her new online store

During the presentation of the Spring/Summer 2027 collection for her label Meryll Rogge, the eponymous designer opened up about her business projects. At the Hôtel de la Marck, in Paris’s 8th arrondissement, the brand presented photos of the fifteen looks from its new collection alongside books provided by the Brussels bookstore Saint-Martin, around which were arranged pieces she has already made available for sale on her brand-new e-commerce site.

“Today is an important moment for the brand, because we’re launching our ‘webshop.’ For me, this means we’re taking a little more control of the brand,” explains the designer in a room adorned with gilding and ceiling moldings.

The e-commerce site, which features a selection of pieces from the Spring/Summer 2027 collection (many of which are already sold out), is available worldwide, with a particular focus on the brand’s key markets in Europe, the United States, as well as Japan and South Korea. On the wholesale front, the brand is also taking matters into its own hands and is in discussions with European and Japanese partners, whose names have not yet been disclosed. 

The Spring/Summer 2027 collection is based on a product lineup centered around what Meryll Rogge customers have primarily purchased over the past few years. Shirts and chino pants are particularly popular, according to Meryll Rogge, and require multiple restocks. The collection includes puffy mini-shorts, tops and dresses with floral patterns in various colors, belts with extra-long ends, wide-collared shirts with leopard prints, and a few oversized jackets inspired by sportswear or country house style.

But for the past few months, the designer has had to prioritize her efforts. Appointed creative director of the Italian brand Marni in 2025, she notes that she enjoys juggling multiple projects at once.

“I love delving deeply into a particular world. Marni is a world with a rich history, and I’m here to bring it to life,” she explains, noting that “at Marni, there are larger teams. It’s a role where I certainly do a lot myself, but there are teams that I guide. We put someone in a certain role—a bit like a conductor—because they’ll bring something extra to the table. We bring in people with a different perspective on certain things. I find that interesting, and it’s a different kind of challenge.”

An experience she compares to her work within her own label. “Meryll Rogge is truly the purest expression I can have of ‘I can do whatever I want.’ “The moiré dresses! I love the history of fashion,” she exclaims, adding that her brand is a “laboratory of ideas.” With an aesthetic that’s less stark and softer than in previous seasons, the Spring/Summer 2027 collection marks a turning point for the Belgian label—visually, creatively, and in terms of business.

EgonLab embodies  hope of unapologetically political design

Under the blazing Parisian sun, the sheer tops and mini shorts presented by the creative duo Kévin Nompeix and Florentin Glémarec struck just the right chord with the audience at the EgonLab fashion show.

Presented at 292 Rue Saint-Martin in Paris’s 3rd arrondissement, the “Ataraxia” collection was inspired by a conversation.

“I spoke to my little nephew, telling him he needed to work hard in school, and he said to me, ‘It’s no use, uncle—I’m going to join the army because there’s going to be a war.’” “I find it quite sad that a 13-year-old doesn’t see a brighter future ahead. And I think it’s also part of our role as young designers to show them that there’s another possibility,” explains Kévin Nompeix.

As a “social brand”, EgonLab sought to address these anxieties by exploring “liminal spaces” (embodied notably by the new sci fi-horror film, “Backrooms”).

“We wanted to explore fairly empty spaces, between reality and the digital world. It’s a concept that emerged in the 2000s to create a space that’s somewhat timeless, one that could allow future generations to envision a slightly better future,” emphasizes  Nompeix, who aspires to build a “better world.”

To embody this exploration, the duo of creative directors designed outfits in a relaxed preppy style. The models wore clusters of ties, loose-fitting suit jackets tucked into mid-thigh-length shorts, and semi-transparent fabrics adorned with delicate embroidery, featuring in dresses, tops, shorts, ties, and shirts, in cream or green. Blue and red knit sweaters with zigzag patterns were paired with flip-flops, and long, loose socks peeked out from leather shoes that were barely held on the feet. Some bags, created in collaboration with Eastpak, were crafted from tartans in various colors or from black fabric. 

The collection’s serene, joyful, and summery spirit—highlighted by the label’s team spraying the crowd with water guns—was marked by a pragmatic message directed at fashion retailers.

“You get the sense that many people are shying away from taking risks. As a result, young designers are being sidelined a bit. Young designers need to rethink their entire sales strategy. They need to reimagine how we design our collections and how we want to sell them. Because I’ve noticed that the fashion system we knew when we started in 2019 no longer exists,” observes Nompeix.

“The big players get bought up, and the smaller ones are left behind. You see this in every field [music, the arts in general],” adds Glémarec. 

The designer also highlights a particularly challenging period for young designers. With this collection, the EgonLab duo is sending a wake-up call to their partners and retailers in general.

“We’ve come to realize that the future is also in business-t0-consumer. We’ve seen customers turn away from department stores and gravitate toward brands. When we founded EgonLab in 2019, during the pandemic, we built a digital community. It’s true that we interact a lot with our community, who support us through our website and engage with us on social media. There’s a dialogue, and our designs evolve based on that dialogue. It’s also by listening to our community that we’ve gotten to where we are today.” 

For EgonLab, the wholesale side of the business has been on the decline, largely because the brand wants to engage its community regularly through capsule collections and events. The show once again brings these two worlds together, attracting retailers and members of the community who turned out in large numbers to congratulate the two designers.

Ouest Paris evokes 1980s Paris

Arthur Robert, co-founder and creative director, chose an intimate setting to unveil Ouest Paris’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection. On Rue Beaubourg, in Paris’s 3rd arrondissement, guests discovered a space already marked by the stifling heat of this Fashion Week day. A long wooden structure, pierced by a series of openings, occupies one entire side of the room. To see the silhouettes, guests had to step closer and look through these openings, as if the collection could only be revealed through a prying gaze.

This staging echoed the aesthetic Arthur Robert developed for the season. The designer drew inspiration from the photographs of Stanley Stellar and Alvin Baltrop, who captured New York in the 1970s and 1980s, when young people took over abandoned docks, industrial wastelands, and construction sites as their own personal playgrounds. He transposed this atmosphere to Paris, drawing on Philippe Heurtault’s photographs taken between Le Palace and La Main Bleue, and a generation of “clones” that left its mark on Parisian fashion before the AIDS epidemic shattered that carefree spirit.

The silhouettes extended this exploration by reinterpreting the codes of the men’s wardrobe. A slightly sheer striped shirt worn with a burgundy tie pairs with black leather Bermuda shorts that evoke a workwear aesthetic. Elsewhere, a powder-pink satin bomber jacket, paired with a wide-open denim shirt, lended an unexpected softness to this look inspired by Claude Montana, a key figure in the collection. Pastel colors softened pieces traditionally associated with workwear.

On the business front, Ouest Paris is also preparing to evolve its distribution strategy.

“We want to reduce the number of our retailers in order to limit our distribution and better control our brand image. Today, 85% of our revenue already comes from direct sales through our pop-up stores—held once per season—and our digital channel,” explains Guillaume Cordellier, co-founder and CEO of the brand.

He also notes that U.S. tariffs have led Ouest Paris to put its expansion plans in the United States on hold.

“Ultimately, this has allowed us to expand into other markets, particularly Japan and South Korea, which now represent new growth opportunities,” he concludes.

It’s a real challenge for these independent labels to remain agile enough to adapt their approach to the uncertainties of the world.