Bachelor of Design & Fashion Textile, Historical Contextual References, History of French Fashion

1. History ofFrench Fashion
Seventeenth - Nineteenth century
1. The association of France with fashion and style (French: la mode) is widely credited as
beginning during the reign of Louis XIV [3]
when the luxury goods industries in France came
increasingly under royal control and the French royal court became,arguably, the arbiter of taste
and style in Europe. The rise in prominence of French fashion was linked to the creation of the
fashion press in the early 1670s (due in large part to Jean Donneau de Visé) which transformed
the fashion industry by marketing designs to a broad public outside the French court[4]
and by
popularizing notions such as the fashion "season" and changing styles.[5]
Louis XIV notably
introduced one of the most noticeable feature of the men's costume of the time : the immense
wigs of curled hair.[6]
A commonly held belief is that Louis XIV started to wear wigs due to
balding, and to imitate this his courtiers put on false hair.[6]
The wearing of wigs lasted for over a
century; they went through many changes, but they were never quite so exaggerated as during this
period.[
The extravagant styles of the French Royal court wracked enormous debts to keep up its pace,at the
peasant’s expense. Such fashion sprees notably ruined Marie Antoinette’s reputation, and were one of the
many factors paving the way for the French Revolution.[6]
The Sans-culottes (lit. “Without knee-breeches”) rejected the powdered wigs and the knee-breeches
assimilated to the nobility and favored informal styles (full-length trousers, and natural hairs...), which
finally triumphed over the brocades, lace, periwig, and powder of the earlier eighteenth century.
Belle Époque
French designer Coco Chanel revolutionised fashion worldwide in the post-World War I era.
France renewed its dominance of the high fashion (French: couture or haute couture) industry in the years
1860-1960 through the establishing of the great couturier houses, the fashion press (Vogue was founded
in 1892) and fashion shows. The first modern Parisian couturier house is generally considered the work of
the Englishman Charles Frederick Worth who dominated the industry from 1858-1895.[7]
In the late
nineteenth and early twentieth century, the industry expanded through such Parisian fashion houses as the
house of Jacques Doucet (founded in 1871), Rouff (founded 1884), Jeanne Paquin (founded in 1891; she
trained at Rouff and was the first woman to open her own fashion house), the Callot Soeurs (founded
1895 and operated by four sisters), Paul Poiret (founded in 1903), Louise Chéruit (founded 1906),
Madeleine Vionnet (founded in 1912), Chanel (founded by Coco Chanel, it first came to prominence in
1925), Elsa Schiaparelli (founded in 1927) and Balenciaga (founded by the Spaniard Cristóbal Balenciaga
in 1937).
World War II
Many fashion houses closed during the occupation of Paris in World War II, including the Maison
Vionnet and the Maison Chanel. In contrast to the stylish, liberated Parisienne,the Vichy regime
promoted the model of the wife and mother, the robust, athletic young woman, a figure who was much
more in line with the new political criteria. Germany, meanwhile, was taking possession of over half of
what France produced, including high fashion, and was considering relocating French haute couture to
the cities of Berlin and Vienna, neither of which had any significant tradition of fashion. The archives of
the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture were seized, mostly for their client lists as Jews were excluded from
the fashion industry at this time.
During this era,the number of employed models was limited to seventy-five and designers often
substituted materials in order to comply with wartime shortages. From 1940 onward, no more than
thirteen feet (four meters) of cloth was permitted to be used for a coat and a little over three feet (one
meter) for a blouse. No belt could be over one and a half inches (four centimeters) wide. As a result of the
frugal wartime standards, the practical zazou suit became popular among young French men.

2. In spite of the fact that so many fashion houses closed down or moved away during the war,severalnew
houses remained open, including Jacques Fath, Maggy Rouff, Marcel Rochas,Jeanne Lafaurie, Nina
Ricci, and Madeleine Vramant. During the Occupation, the only true way for a woman to flaunt her
extravagance and add color to a drab outfit was to wear a hat. In this period, hats were often made of
scraps of material that would have otherwise been thrown away,sometimes incorporating butter muslin,
bits of paper, and wood shavings. Among the most innovative milliners of the time were Pauline Adam,
Simone Naudet, Rose Valois, and Le Monnier
Evening dress,House of Dior, 1954. Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Post-war
Yves Saint Laurent was a significant post-war fashion designers, with his mentor Christian Dior.
Post-war fashion returned to prominence through Christian Dior's famous "New Look" in 1947: the
collection contained dresses with tiny waists, majestic busts, and full skirts swelling out beneath small
bodices, in a manner very similar to the style of the Belle Époque. The extravagant use of fabric and the
feminine elegance of the designs appealed greatly to a post-war clientele. Other important houses of the
period included Pierre Balmain and Hubert de Givenchy (opened in 1952). The fashion magazine Elle
was founded in 1945. In 1952, Coco Chanel herself returned to Paris.[8]
In the 1960s, "high fashion" came under criticism from France's youth culture (including the yé-yés) who
were turning increasingly to London and to casualstyles.[9]
In 1966, the designer Yves Saint Laurent
broke with established high fashion norms by launching a prêt-à-porter ("ready to wear") line and
expanding French fashion into mass manufacturing and marketing (member houses of the Chambre
Syndicale were forbidden to use even sewing machines).[10]
Further innovations were carried out by Paco
Rabanne and Pierre Cardin. In post-1968 France,youth culture would continue to gravitate away from the
"sociopolitically suspect" luxury clothing industry, preferring instead a more "hippy" look (termed baba
cool in French).[11]
With a greater focus on marketing and manufacturing, new trends were established by
Sonia Rykiel, Thierry Mugler, Claude Montana, Jean-PaulGaultier and Christian Lacroix in the 1970s

3. and 80s. The 1990s saw a conglomeration of many French couture houses under luxury giants and
multinationals such as LVMH.
Since the 1960s, France's fashion industry has come under increasing competition from London, New
York, Milan and Tokyo. Nevertheless,many foreign designers still seek to make their careers in France:
Karl Lagerfeld (German) at Chanel, John Galliano (British) at Dior, Paulo Melim Andersson (Swedish) at
Chloe, Stefano Pilati (Italian) at Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Jacobs (American) at Louis Vuitton, Kenzo
Takada (Japanese) and Alexander McQueen (English) at Givenchy (until 2001).
Cities
Paris is a symbol of France and for fashion, known for its world's cultural eviroment.
France is known as a country of luxury, fashion and beauty, with Paris as one of the world's fashion
capitals. It also has many cities and towns with an important history and industry of the entry, with
various sized events and shows as fashion weeks and fests.
Paris
Paris is regarded as the world fashion capital, and spread throughout the city are many fashion boutiques.
A majority of the major French fashion brands, such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Lacroix, are
currently headquartered in the city. Numerous international fashion labels also operate shops in Paris,
such as Valentino, Gucci, Loewe,Escada, Bottega Veneta,Burberry, including an Abercrombie & Fitch
flagship store which has become a main consumer attraction. Paris hosts a fashion week twice a year,
similar to other international centers such as Milan, London, Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles and Rome.
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées for excellence is the avenue of luxury and beauty of France with many
headquarters of upscale fashion, jewelery and beauty houses situated on it. This avenue is often compared
with the 5th Avenue of NYC and the Avenue Montaigne,which is another adjacent avenue that is known
for its prestigious fashion headquarters since the 1980s. The fashion houses have been traditionally
situated since the 17th century in the quarter around the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. Other areas,
such as Le Marais,a traditional Jewish quarter, have also included the clothing industry, also the city
have a lot of fashion districts consolidating the city as a fashion capital.
Lyon
Lyon is a cosmo-city symbol of the country.
A view of Presqu'île in Lyon.

4. Lyon is the second largest city of France, is one of the growing fashion industry cites of France. Famous
for be the world's Silk capital since 17th century, with an important textile industry and a strong based
fashion culture. Second biggest luxury good customer of the country, with major streets and districts with
houses of high fashion.[12]
For excellence the Presqu'île is the upscale district of the city contain luxurious malls, streets and avenues
as the famous Rue de la République compared with Avenue des Champs-Elysées of Paris.
The Rue Édouard-Herriot, the "Avenue des Cordeliers Jacobines"', the Place Bellecour and others are
some of luxury districts with elegant boutiques of Armani, Dior, Prada,Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein,
MaxMara,Armand Ventilo, Sonia Rykiel, Cartier, and many houses.[13]
La Croix-Rousse is an fashion district heavily marked by silk industry, known for being one of the
districts supported by government for the newcomer fashion designers. The city is home of international
fashion houses with the headquarters of Korloff, Millesia, the jeweler Augis, and some elses, another
Lyonnaise famous fashion houses in France includes Nicholas Fafiotte,Nathalie Chaize and Garbis
Devar.[13]
Marseille
Marseille is a contrasts city, represents the antique and contemporary cities France.
Marseille is the third largest city of France and the principal port of the country and principal port of
Europe and Mediterranean sea.
The city is affectionately called "The Old Lady of the Mediterranean"or "The City of the Contrasts"[14]
for excellence the city has enjoyed its position on the continent being a fluvial port with ships full of
fashion products, for that reason the outside, France and home fashion houses are established boutiques.
The avenue Canebière is called the Champs Elysées of Marseille. Rue Paradis and the Rue Grignan are
known for being the avenues of luxury in the city holding high fashion boutiques such as Louis Vuitton,
Hermès,YSL, Chopard, Kenzo, Tara Jarmon, Gérard Dareland many others.
A view of Canebière in Marseille.
The Rue de la Tour is called "La Rue de la Mode"(English:The Fashion street) where the newest
Marsellaises fashion designers and artisans are supported by the city government, for create and grown
the fashion industry in the city, some of famous fashion houses in France are Diable Noir,Casa Blanca
and many more.
In the Centre and Vieux Port (downtown and old port) are other of the city shopping districts, in this areas
are a lot of fashion houses for both nationals and internationals.
Other cities
Passage Pommeraye a ultra-upscale shopping hall in Nantes, UNESCO's world heritage.
Although the Paris,Lyon and Marseille domain, in France exist mainly "fashionable" cities and towns,
that are also important centres for French clothing design industry.

5. Lille's downtown in north France holds severalof luxury houses. Cannes along with Nice, St. Tropez and
Montecarlo year by year host thowsands of socialites, artists, potentates and several personalities that
come up for many events including the Cannes Film Festival, the NRJ Music Awards etc. For that reason
fashion houses have taken advantage establishing boutiques in ostentatious districts of French riviera,
Bordeaux with prime wine tourism, Toulouse with they pink and stylish architecture, Rennes and Nantes
with antique beauty, Strasbourg offering French-German architecture,etc.
In the cities there are fashion districts, avenues, streets,shopping malls and many places specialized for
all the needs of the customer.
Fashion shows
Main article: Paris Fashion Week
The Paris Fashion Week takes place twice a year after the Milan Fashion Week. It is the last and usually
the most anticipated city of the fashion month. Dates are determined by the French Fashion Federation.
Currently, the Fashion Week is held in the Carrousel du Louvre.
References-
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_fashion
2. History of Fashion by Manmeet Sodhia, Kalyan Publisher.