Fashion In Paris

Paris, as well being the prime centre of international haute couture, has long been a veritable paradise for the stylish consumer shopping for clothes.Since Englishman Charles Worth set up in the late 19th century, Paris has been the home to international talent and maintained its position as the hub of fashion. Today, many of the major French fashion houses have become international design hybrids. Among the most headline making alliances of the late 90s, there are the British designers, Stella McCartney, John Galliano and Alexander McQueen creating collections for Chole, Christian Dior and Givenchy respectively; Americans Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton and Michael Kores at Celine, the Italian based Narciso Rodriquez doing the Loewe line; Israeli Alber Elbaz designing for Guy Laroche; and The German- born Karl Laegrfield at Chanel. For foreign designers there is still the kudos of working in Paris, the city synonymous with fashion.

The upbeat tempo of the Paris shows featuring loud music and gyrating models, set up the pace for fashion worldwide. Paris continued to flourish. The top designers were producing their own ready- to- wear labels plus diffusion collections, jeans collections, menswear and fragrance lines. By mid 90s Paris had embraced a whole host of international designers. With the colorful French designers, Jean-Paul Gautier and Christian Lacroix and, more recently, the Italian Donatella Versace, doing couture collections in Paris, it looks like staying on for some years to come. But if anyone actually thought Paris had exchanged fashion status for football stadium during the summer of 1998 they need not worried. During the World Cup final at Stade de France, not with football chants but with a $ 4 million spectacle featuring 300 international models wearing 40 years of French fashion by Yves Saint Laurent.

Chanel: the fashion name that epitomizes taste, glamour and style. Founded in the 1920s by the legendary Coco Chanel, the house of Chanel remains at the cutting edge of contemporary fashion. She was the woman who modestly created her success to ’having been in the right place at the right time’. For more information http://www.chanel.com

Lavin: Jeanne Lavin, one of the great couturiers of the early 20th century, gave up her original career when her clients began to demand copies of the dresses she had made for her younger sister and daughter. These youthful mother and daughter outfits made Lavin famous and achieved immense popularity. They blurred the distinction between women and young girls and were highly flattering to women of all ages. Lavin also created very feminine ’robe de style’ and romantic ’picture dresses’. Her work is characterized by fine embroidery, superb craftsmanship and harmonious colours- among them is the ’Lavin blue’ to which she gave her name. For more information- http://www.modeaparis.com/vf/couturiers

Dior: darling of high society and brilliant creator of the ’new look’, Christian Dior shot to international fame almost overnight at the age of 47. At first his creations provoked angry accusations of unpatriotic extravagance, but women everywhere soon warmed to his hour- glass lines and long, rustling skirts. His designer- dresses and hats, shoes and accessories, complimented by an outline of his career and his inspired output. For more information- http://www.dior.com/ Christian Lacroix: Youngest of the great couturiers, reluctant hero of the glamorous world of fashion, Christian Lacroix was the star that the 1980s had been waiting for, bringing new life to the world of haute couture. In founding his own house and launching his startlingly luxurious and wonderfully elegant collections, Lacroix turned all accepted wisdom on its head. Time has vindicated this shy man in love with the theatre, with literature and tradition. He is a designer whose nature is profoundly that of an artist, nourished on culture and the ’remembrance of things past’ that runs like a thread through even the simplest of his dresses. For more information- http://www.modeaparis.com/vf/couturiers Jean Paul Gaultier: "Enfant terrible" of the fashion world, Jean Paul Gaultier has astonished us with his inventiveness, energy and ability to have fun since his first collection at the end of the 1970s. A master of mixing styles- often drawn from the streets of London and Paris- his clothes breakdown the barrier between beauty and ugliness, elegance and vulgarity, yet have undoubtedly earned him a place in the mainstream of haute couture. For more information- http://www.modeaparis.com/vf/couturiers Yves Saint Laurent: he is the official patron saint of fashion in Paris. Algerian born, he won first prize for a drawing of a dress in a fashion contest and studied at the Chambre Syndicale School in Paris, before he started working for Christian Dior in 1955. He was only 21 when he became the head of the House after Dior’s untimely death. His collections for Dior shocked the conservative couture world. In 1960 Dior replaced him with Marc Bohan. Returning, after only couple of months, from the Algerian army, discharged after ill health, Yves decided to open his own salon with his business partner Pierre Bergé in 1960. He captured a whole new generation as customers. His were clothes synonymous with the bohemian Left Bank and the hip beaches of St.Tropez. But, for Saint Laurent designing clothes has always been more about creating style that endures rather than making one season wonder looks for victims The House of Saint Laurent is now a huge empire. His name has become a highly valued brand in the French fashion industry. For more information- http://www.ysl-hautecouture.com/

Pierre Cardin: Today Pierre Cardin is the king of product licensing. Following his initial indisputable claim to fame with his space age collection, in 1964, a trend milestone in fashion history, he exploited his growing status in the hedonistic 60s. In 1968 he issued his first license contract outside fashion- for porcelain china. Two years later, Espace Pierre Cardin- the theatre, restaurant, cinema and exhibition hall opened in Paris. In 1977 he launched Maxim’s Boutique, the start of the whole new line of products, prior to taking control of the celebrated Maxim’s restaurant in Paris. Now he has a global business with 850 licenses. For more information- www.pierrecardin.com

There are many fashion designers who have done remarkable work in their field such as: Doeuillet- Doucet, Elsa Schiaprelli, Jacques Heim, Madeleine Vionette, Michel Goma, Paquin, Doucet, Caroline Reboux, Jacque Fath, Charles James, Pierre Balmain, Rahvis, John Cavanagh, Paquin, Carven, Maggy Rouff, Jean Patou, Jean Dessès, Ted Lapidus, Jeanne Chasseriaud, Lucien Lelong, Guy Laroche, Matta Serge, Adeline André, Agnès B, Akris, Anne Marie Beretta, Bernad Willhelm; Balmain, Cerruiti, Christophe Lemaire, Courrèges ;Dominique Sirop ; Plein Sud, and many more.

A number of fashion shows are organised each year by fashion designers to show their creative work in all seasons such as Automne- hiver and Printemps- été shows. Not only the clothes, that these designers work on, but also accessories, perfumes, cosmetics and attitude of course. New designers are coming up with their different innovative ideas each year better than the earlier works and making a base for the next ones to come.

For more information consult the books at the FIRC such as: Le livre de la haute couture 391 VAU Dior 391 POC Jean Paul Gaultier 391 CHE Lavin 391 BAR Chanel 391 BAU Christian Lacroix 391 BAU Poiret 391 BAU Yves Saint Laurent 391 BER Yves Saint Laurent 391 YVE Courrèges 391 GUI Dé d’orHaute Couture Français 391 DED Paris Traditions 914.436 1 HUS