Tributes are pouring in for the late great Claude Miserey, OBE, President of the French Menswear Industry Federation (Fédération Française des Industries du Vêtement Masculin – FFIVM) who died in Paris on 19 December 2023, aged 93.

Claude was a long-standing friend and supporter of the UK fashion and textile industry and the team at UKFT, in particular in the mid 1990s when the UK was the largest exhibiting country at the SEHM International Men’s and Boy’s show in Paris. Groups organised by the British Knitting and Clothing Export Council (BKCEC – now UKFT) and the British Menswear Guild totalled in excess of 180 exhibitors, representing over one fifth of the total floor space of the show. SEHM was Europe’s largest international menswear show and it was Claude Miserey’s enthusiasm for all things British and his friendship for the UK organisations he worked with which led to the growth of the British group over many years. Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal attended as President of BKCEC and was received by Claude in 1988.

Claude was awarded an honorary OBE for services to British menswear, an award of which he was immensely grateful and proud. He was a frequent visitor to the UK and the British Embassy in Paris and was a former liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Glovers.

In his native France, Claude was the beating heart of the French menswear industry for over 50 years. A graduate in Law from the University of Lille II, his  many friends and contacts in France and around the world were the Who’s Who of the French and international menswear circuit, including French menswear designers Pierre Cardin, Thierry Mugler and Didier Grumbach of the Chambre Syndicale, organisers of Paris Fashion Week. His substantial contribution to French menswear and the central role of Paris as an international capital of menswear and fashion was recognised with a Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest national honour and he was made a Commander of the Ordre national du Mérite.

UKFT’s Paul Alger said: “Claude’s was a life very well lived. He never forgot a birthday, always calling and never texting! He threw incredible industry parties at sumptuous French palaces with a torchlit carriage ride and best firework displays to put all others in the shade. He was a bon vivant and had a wonderful zest for life, good food and fine wine. At Christmas and at most other times there would always be champagne. Around the world, I have always met people who knew Claude and counted him amongst their dearest friends. He was a true gentleman and a dear friend. The end of an era.”

UKFT sends its heartfelt condolences to Claude’s widow Sylvie and his son Sven as well as FFIVM and the French menswear industry.