Paris – The City Where it All Started
When it comes to fashion, Paris is the city that started it all.
The association of France with fashion and style dates as far back to the reign of Louis XIV, when the luxury goods industries in France came increasingly under royal control. With the creation of a fashion press in the 1670’s, France popularized the ideas of a fashion “season” and ever changing styles.
But it was Charles Worth who set the stage for the first runway show. Worth, a skilled draper from London, set up the first fashion haute couture house in Paris in 1858 after recruiting investors to open a dress shop that targeted rich women. Worth became well known among royal and high class women from all over Europe, who were soon visiting him regularly to see his new designs.
It was one afternoon, in 1910, when Worth staged a presentation in his office in Paris. Complete with models, Worth showed his new collection to clients. And so, the first runway show was born. Shortly after, Jacques Doucet and Jeanne Paquin expanded France’s dominance of high fashion with additional couture houses. Between 1860 and 1960, the dominance continued as more couturier houses were established in Paris (Paul Poiret, Madeleine Vionnet, Elsa Schiaparelli, Chanel and Balenciaga, to name a few), and the fashion press and fashion shows continued to grow in the city.
Paris still maintains its hold as the city of fashion, with houses such as Chanel and Balenciaga still showing new and covetable designs each season.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s report, as we hear from Lori Hirshleifer on what she saw on her recent trip, and what will be the best new looks come Fall.
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