Mulhouse Fashion Week

MOTOCO: When Textile Heritage is Reborn Through Fashion

Mulhouse Fashion Week was born from an ambitious vision: to restore Mulhouse, nicknamed 'the city of a hundred chimneys' since the industrial revolution of the 18th century, to its rightful place on the fashion map. In January 2025, Hicham Bensoussi, a fashion enthusiast and entrepreneur, conceived a grand event to bridge the city's glorious textile past with the designers of tomorrow. The choice of MOTOCO (Manufacture de l'Ouest, Territoire de la Co-création), located in Building 75 of the former DMC factory, was a natural fit: over 140 artists and artisans work daily in nearly 90 workshops, forming a creative ecosystem unique in France.

An Immersive Experience Beyond the Classic Fashion Show

Mulhouse Fashion Week distinguishes itself from traditional fashion weeks through its sensory and multidisciplinary approach. Far from conventional runways, the event offers an immersive journey where fashion dialogues with light, industrial architecture, and artistic performance. During the first edition, 80 models walked through the vast spaces of MOTOCO, accompanied by a team of set designers, videographers, and lighting designers. Scent diffusers punctuated the path, inviting visitors to experience fashion as a total, poetic experience.

A Launchpad for Emerging Designers

At the heart of the project is the commitment to discover the talents of tomorrow. MFW welcomes designers from diverse backgrounds: recent graduates from Alsatian fashion schools, established designers who have already participated in Paris Fashion Week or New York Fashion Week, as well as talents from Switzerland, Germany, and China. Among the designers featured in the inaugural edition were Ostuff, a regular at Paris Fashion Week, and Auréa Bloch, who has shown at New York Fashion Week. This diversity reflects the event's international ambitions.

Mulhouse, Historic Textile Capital

By choosing Mulhouse as its setting, Fashion Week taps into a history spanning nearly three centuries. Since the opening of the first textile printing factory in 1746, Mulhouse has been a globally renowned textile hub. The unique Musée de l'Impression sur Étoffes (Museum of Textile Printing) preserves millions of textile samples that bear witness to this industrial epic. MFW aims to perpetuate this heritage by making fashion a vehicle for creativity and cultural influence for the entire Mulhouse metropolitan area.

An Event Poised for Growth

Conceived from its inception as an annual event, Mulhouse Fashion Week aims to expand over several days in future editions, incorporating workshops, conferences on sustainable fashion, and exhibitions highlighting Alsatian textile heritage. The event thus positions itself as a major player in the regional fashion scene and a bridge between manufacturing tradition and creative innovation.