How French Fashion Continues To Set The Global Trend

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At a time of economic difficulty in France, the fashion industry is still going strong. So how did French fashion come to dominate for so many years?
Whatever difficulties France faces, the country’s fashion industry will always fire on all cylinders. A recent report by the French Fashion Institute (IFM) found that the sector outperforms several major high-ticket trades, including aerospace and car production. Yet according to the head of Jean Paul-Gaultier, "The French are not very conscious of the weight the country's lifestyle industries represents.” So how did French fashion come to be so dominant on the global stage, and why does it continue to fly under the radar? The French Revolution The image of France as the home of high fashion originates in the era of the ‘Sun King’, Louis XIV. The king’s decadent tastes led him to effectively nationalise the textile industry, bringing design and quality control under royal auspices. This approach shaped the French fashion industry for centuries and persists into the present day. The term haute couture, or ‘high sewing’, was actually popularised in reference to Englishman Charles Frederick Worth’s Parisian fashion house. The House of Worth’s Victorian era garments were legendary, with its designers becoming some of the first global trendsetters outside royalty. Their quality was such that Napoleon’s wife Eugenie was a dedicated acolyte, and the term became a highly respected seal of approval. It is still protected in French law, and delegated by the government to the very best French fashion houses.