US designers set out their stall at Paris Fashion Week

As the world’s top designers dazzled a select audience of fashionistas and celebrities at Paris Fashion Week, their US counterparts quietly set out their stall in the capital.

Designers & Agents, which bills itself as an “international alternative marketplace” for more than a thousand collections, moved into a gallery on the Place des Vosges, in the city’s chic third arrondissement.

Designers & Agents already runs spring and fall collections in Los Angeles: Their Paris venture was a concentrated version of what they had to offer, with 30 top US marques on display.

While American fashion has a reputation for being fresh and informal and the US has its share of top global barnds, the designers there want to build on that.

The economic crisis has given them a fresh impetus – and with the euro so strong against the dollar, they decided now was the right time for them to make the push.

For many, Paris may be the world capital of haute couture, but the American still feel they have a lot to bring to the table.