French Fashion: Why Did France
Become A Leader In Fashion?
It’s a question that hits my inbox at least once a month, from people all over the world. Why did French fashion become so important? Why Paris? Why not Rome? Or Athens? Or someplace else?
If you happen to know a bit about world history, the answer makes perfect sense. If you used history class to doze or pass notes, you might have missed it.
Still, it’s an excellent question. For not only is french fashion history interesting, it reveals two undeniable truths:
- Fashion is fickle.
- Fashion is extremely vulnerable to war, politics, and the economy. It’s one of the first things people indulge in when times are good, and one the first things they go without when times are bad. If you want staying power, you need to build a brand that can withstand these industry-crippling events.
So how did French fashion become so important?
The story begins nearly a thousand years ago in a climate eerily similar to today: with conflict in the Middle East.
(If you’re not a big history buff, stick with me – this will go pretty quickly.)
Until around the year 1000, most people stayed put. Travel was tedious and dangerous, and while there were a few adventurous souls here and there – not to mention military campaigns that took soldiers all over -- most people lived their entire lives within a few miles of where they were born.
Clothing was what you used to cover yourself and stay warm. Period. While the ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian cultures had evolved into centers of art, fashion, and learning, that all stopped during the Dark Ages. In fact, for nearly a thousand years, most clothing styles throughout Europe and the Middle East were simply versions of the classic Roman costume that had been introduced during the vast occupation of the Roman Empire: tunics, togas, and lace sandals.
People simply adapted the basic costume to the materials, climate, politics, and religious dictates in their area. And while there were some differences between the classes -- like amount of material used and number of garments owned, for example -- everyone pretty much stuck with simple shapes that required little assembly. Textiles were rough, and color choices were few.
The only people who saw any large changes in their dress were soldiers; uniforms were constantly adapted to perform better in battle. Much as they are today.
Anyway, when word reached Pope Urban II in 1093 that the Turks were allegedly attacking Christians in and around Jerusalem, he rallied his allies from Italy, France, and England and fought back. The Crusades began, and would last nearly 250 years.
As is often the case in times of war, trade evolved to service the needs of the soldiers. Similarly, those returning from the Crusades brought back items from the region that Europeans had never seen before, like silk, spices, and oils. Soon, demand for more of these luxuries sent European traders further east, where they often had to brave war, illness, and bandits to get their treasures back home.
But those who did return got rich.
By the 13th Century, the silk trade was well developed and Venice became THE place to sell luxury items from the Mid and Far East. Its strategic position in Northern Italy could be reached by land or by sea, and goods traded there quickly found their way to surrounding areas like Austria, Switzerland, and France.
Between the influx of money and exquisite textiles, clothing began to take on new importance. Instead of being primarily a way to protect one’s self from the elements, it became a means to display wealth and status. A whole industry of craftsmen emerged to create and assemble beautiful clothing for the wealthy.
Thus, the fashion industry was born.
By the late 1400’s, the Italian economy was in such good shape that its citizens could spend their time in pursuits other than those required of daily living. Interest in the classics like art, sculpture, and music resumed, and The Renaissance was born, with Italy at its center.
With Michelangelo, Raphael, and da Vinci at their zeniths, these were heady times, indeed. But like all good things, the Eastern silk trade eventually came to an end. By the late 1500’s, Spain, with its newfound wealth from the New World, soon emerged as the fashion capital of the world.
While the Italians loved festive colors and flirtatious styles, the Spaniards preferred somber tones in stiff fabrics, to reflect the piety of their Catholic court. The Spanish ruff and farthingale dominated in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, spreading to both France and England. Queen Elizabeth I’s wardrobe strongly favored the Spanish style.
But something happened in the mid-1600’s that would forever change the course of fashion: Louis XIV was born.
Louis XIV was, by all accounts, a vain, arrogant man who was nonetheless endowed with an incredible sense of the aesthetic. He was also obsessed with elevating France’s status in the European community, and used all his available resources to that end. He ruled France with an iron hand from his palace at Versailles, and spent lavishly on beautiful objects like art, furniture, and clothing. Anyone who wished to be in his inner circle was required to do the same.
Thus, by the late 1600’s, a large portion of the French economy was derived from clothing and dressmaking goods. Anyone who was anyone kept up with French fashions, which could be a full time job since they changed frequently. It was said that men’s jacket styles changed 69 times during Louis’ 72-year reign, compared to just 4 times during his father’s 33-year reign. France was THE fashion center of the world, and remained so until the French Revolution began in 1789.
When Napoleon took control and started to rebuild in 1804, the French economy was in shambles after 15 years of war. Looking for ways to stabilize and rebuild, Napoleon turned to the fashion industry to stimulate the economy. He imposed a blockade on trade with Great Britain, who was the world’s leading textile manufacturer at the time, and insisted that all dressmaking goods be made in France. He then instated a rule that no one could come to the French court twice dressed in the same thing. Thus, frequent visitors to the court spent their days – and a lot of money – with their dressmakers, creating clothes that could be worn to court.
When Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo in 1815, French fashions, particularly for men, fell out of favor. The bespoke tailors of Savile Row on the West End of London, who had been fashioning military uniforms for 100 years and had clad the dapper Beau Brummel and his devotees, were ready to answer the call. Heads of state who had been shopping in Paris soon took their business to London.
France again regained its international reputation for fine fashion when Napoleon III married Eugenia of Spain in 1853. Cultured, beautiful, and a lover of fine fashions, Eugenie quickly garnered followers from all over Europe. It was then that a talented young British designer named Charles Frederick Worth decided to make his move.
Worth started his career as a bookkeeper in a dry goods shop, but soon found that creating women’s clothing was far more interesting. After moving to Paris when he was 20 and apprenticing in an accessories shop, he opened his own salon and quickly caught the eye of the discerning Eugenie. With her influence and his talent, Worth’s reputation and fame quickly spread.
He was the first designer to show his clothes on live models, the first to put his name on a label inside the clothes, and the first to set a schedule for showing seasonal clothes. Called “The father of Haute Couture,” he also started the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, which is an organization that sets the standards for designers of haute couture. Soon, he was gowning queens, princesses, and the wives of industrial barons. France was once again THE center of fashion, with the House of Worth THE place to go.
Other designing luminaries soon made their mark on French fashions as well, including Poiret, Chanel, Dior, and Balenciaga, among others. Paris haute couture enjoyed its best years following World War II, when the industry employed 35,000 people to create clothes for 15,000 regular consumers of couture, including women like Babe Pauley, Gloria Guiness, and The Duchess of Windsor, all of whom would order complete collections at a time. Today, only about 200 women are regular consumers of couture, with 5,000 people regularly employed in the couture industry.
So what happened?
Well, first it was the British invasion. Right after the Beatles made it big, so did British mod fashions, with Mary Quant and her mini skirts leading the charge. The daughters whose mothers wore French fashions were looking for something completely different and found it in the fashion-forward British styles of the 60’s.
Then, Pierre Cardin decided to make his clothes available to a larger audience by offering Ready-To-Wear collections. Other French houses gave a collective gasp before sharply criticizing Cardin for being so bourgeois, but before long they were all either offering RTW themselves or closing their doors for lack of business.
Finally, designers in other countries began to make their international mark in the 1970’s, including Halston, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Diane Von Furstenberg in the United States, and Armani, Valentino, and Versace in Italy.
Today, Paris still enjoys a reputation for fine fashions, but it’s not the “only game in town,” so to speak. The Italians continue to excel in fine silk and leather goods, having honed their techniques over eight centuries, while the British own the market in bespoke tailoring, woolen goods, and fine outerwear. Americans and Australians are known for their sportswear, while the Japanese have perfected the art of combining drama, form, and function in everything from lingerie to evening wear. Given the availability of local talent, consumers no longer have to head to “the City of Lights.”
But Louis XIV would have been delighted to know that for nearly 300 years, his influence held such sway over the world that fashion lovers from queens and princesses to industrial barons felt the need to go to Paris…or bust!
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Diana Pemberton-Sikes is a fashion writer and image
consultant and a contributing author to FabJob’s Guide
to “Become A Fashion Designer.” You can visit her
online at FashionJobReview.com .
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