French Fashion Began with the Sun King
Portrait of King Louis XIV by Hyacinthe Rigaud, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Paris Fashion Week 2023, this year’s last of the ‘Big Four’ after New York, London, and Milan, wrapped up on October 3 having kicked off the Spring and Summer 2024 fashion season. The French capital has been synonymous with fashion thanks to none other than King Louis XIV, who reigned from the mid-17th to early 18th century. As a child king under the regency of his mother, Anne of Austria, Louis’ early life was marked by civil wars called La Fronde, which saw shifting alliances between the Parliament, nobles, and various actors among the monarchy and its administrators. He subsequently appropriated significant power as the King of France by, among other actions, centering political and social life around his court at Versailles thereby consolidating his power and diminishing that of nobility. Along with this power came a concentrated effort to raise the profile of France embodied by his own image of luxury and strength.
The 16th century dominance of the Spanish Empire extended to Spain’s unofficial role in setting fashion trends with black clothing, which was difficult and expensive to dye. It thus served a double duty of displaying somber Catholic piety as well as the wealth of the wearer and the empire he or she represented. In contrast, the ambitions of Louis XIV were anything but modest, which he fulfilled not only through the extravagant construction of his palace at Versailles, but also through prominent displays of wealth through furnishings, clothing, and world-class entertainment. The King’s administration also oversaw the strategic development of domestic industries such as textiles, lace, glassware, and jewelry intended to establish France as a European powerhouse along with infrastructure within France and ships and ports to support seafaring trade and defenses. His Comptroller General, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, carried out the ambitions of Louis XIV, consolidating expertise through guilds and providing employment for many subjects while putting protectionist measures in place to limit imports and promote French exports.
Scarf in Chantilly lace. Image credit: Detail van strikdas in Chantilly kloskant, 1850-1880. MoMu - Fashion Museum Province of Antwerp, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The monarchy required that new fabrics, accessories, and styles be introduced each spring and fall, thereby making sustainable markets for French goods by requiring court attendees to wear the latest fashions. French nobles hurried to copy the king’s model of conspicuous consumption, acquiring French-made goods for their own properties and French-made clothing and accessories to display during their appearances at the royal court. A new practice of creating and distributing illustrations advertised French fashions within the country and abroad, prompting additional demand for French products. By the end of Louis XIV’s reign in 1715, France’s fashion culture and reputation had established deep roots that intermingled into its national identity.
This year’s Paris Fashion Week marks the 50th anniversary of an event known as the ‘Battle of Versailles’ (Le Grand Divertissement à Versailles) that took place in November 1973. Gerald Van der Kemp, then the curator of the Palace of Versailles, teamed up with Eleanor Lambert, a noted New York fashion publicist, to hold a show of French and American designers as a fundraiser for palace renovations. The event attracted a who’s who of attendees, including Princess Grace of Monaco, Hollywood royalty, and celebrities from around the world. Conventional wisdom held that the French presentation consisting of the houses of Pierre Cardin, Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy, Yves St. Laurent, and Emanuel Ungaro, would clearly outclass the American group of Bill Blass, Stephen Burrows, Halston, Anne Klein, and Oscar de la Renta. After all, French fashion had dominated the world for nearly three centuries.
Stephen Burrows top & skirt, Fall/ Winter 1971. Adnan Ege Kutay Collection. Image credit: Titit, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The French contingent went first, putting on a spectacular display that included performances by Josephine Baker and an entire orchestra backed by elaborate sets inspired by the setting of Versailles and its opulence from the days of Louis XIV. Their segment stayed true to French roots of exquisite craftsmanship but the clothing designs were arguably overshadowed by the extravagance of the show’s ancillary elements that recalled the king’s desire to show how France was/would be a multifaceted power.
Next up were the American designs, shown on and by Black and Caucasian models who entered and exited the stage to vocal numbers by recent Oscar winner Liza Minnelli. Technical difficulties during rehearsals contributed to relatively sparse sets that was more than offset by creative lighting and the movement of the models, whose dancing and easygoing manner gave off feelings of youth, vibrancy, and excitement. Although the prominence of French fashion was not disputed, the Battle of Versailles opened the door to the rise of fashion influences and designers from elsewhere, particularly the United States. A 2012 documentary by Deborah Riley Draper titled Versailles '73: American Runway Revolution revisits the show, including interviews with some of the key participants.
The top echelons of fashion still encompass noted French design firms while expanding to include fashion houses headquartered outside of France. Furthermore, the creative directors of prestigious and up-and-coming fashion houses represent a spectrum of nationalities ranging from French, Belgian, Georgian, and Italian to American, Israeli, and Japanese, among others. The fashion industry now has a worldwide reach of designers, suppliers, and customers but Paris and France continue to hold a fundamental role as the birthplace of fashion.
Jeu de français
As fashion has democratized beyond royalty and nobility, every article of clothing can now serve as a method of expressing its wearer’s identity and mood. Look for a dozen French clothing terms in the word search below.
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