Paris Fashion

Paris has been the international capital of fashion for more than 300 years. Even before the rise of the haute couture, Parisians were notorious for their obsession with fashion, and foreigners eagerly followed their lead. From Charles Frederick Worth to Gabrielle "Coco†? Chanel, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent, fashion history is dominated by the names of Parisian couturiers. But Valerie Steele's Paris Fashion is much more than just a history of great designers. This fascinating book demonstrates that the success of Paris ultimately rests on the strength of its fashion culture – created by a host of fashion performers and spectators, including actresses, dandies, milliners, artists, and writers. First published in 1988 to great international acclaim, this pioneering book has now been completely revised and brought up to date, encompassing the rise of fashion's multiple world cities in the 21st century. Lavishly illustrated, deeply learned, and elegantly written, Valerie Steele's masterwork explores with brilliance and flair why Paris remains the capital of fashion.

The glamour and excitement of the Parisian fashion scene explodes onto the page in these bold portraits and drawings of Paris by rising star and couture insider Marc-Antoine Coulon. With an unwavering hand and a riot of color, Marc-Antoine Coulon captures Paris fashion on and off the runway. His pared-down, ultra-glamorous sketches--portraits of designers, screen stars, and his favorite Parisian haunts from day to night--are rendered here with incisive and unique artistry. Coulon's watercolors, collages, and sketches, paired with handwritten observations and pithy quotations, transcend the page. The artist's distinctive style--inspired by the great masters René Gruau and Erté--is both timeless and iconic, with a decidedly contemporary edge that is at once elegant, sexy, vibrant, and witty. Fashion icon Ines de la Fressange acknowledges his artistic courage: with a bold, saturated background, a confident brushstroke, or the force of negative space, his drawings sublimate his subjects--whether a dress, a monument, or a celebrity. As fashion illustration enjoys a renaissance in magazines and couture campaigns, Coulon's drawings have been commissioned by everyone from Vogue to Dior to private collectors. They offer readers a joyful and breathless tour of everything fashionable in Paris.

In 1939, fashion became an economic and symbolic sphere of great importance in France. Invasive textile legislation, rationing and threats from German and American couturiers were pushing the design and trade of Parisian style to its limits. It is widely accepted that French fashion was severely curtailed as a result, isolated from former foreign clients and deposed of its crown as global queen of fashion. This pioneering book offers a different story. Arguing that Paris retained its hold on the international haute couture industry right throughout WWII, eminent dress historians and curators come together to show that, amid political, economic and cultural traumas, Paris fashion remained very much alive under the Nazi occupation – and on an international level. Bringing exciting perspectives to challenge a familiar story and introducing new overseas trade links out of occupied France, this book takes us from the salons of renowned couturiers such as Edward Molyneux and Robert Piguet, French Vogue and Le Jardin des Modes and luxury Lyon silk factories, to Rio de Janeiro, Denmark and Switzerland, and the great American department stores of New York. Also comparing extravagant Paris occupation styles to austerity fashions of the UK and USA, parallel industrial and design developments highlight the unresolvable tension between luxury fashion and the everyday realities of wartime life. Showing that Paris strove to maintain world dominance as leader of couture through fashion journalism, photography and exported fashion forecasting, Paris Fashion and World War Two makes a significant contribution to the cultural history of fashion.

Paris, Capital of Fashion accompanies a major exhibition at The Museum at FIT, New York's only museum dedicated solely to the art of fashion. This lavishly-illustrated book is edited by MFIT's director and chief curator, Valerie Steele, also the author of the acclaimed Paris Fashion: A Cultural History. This new book opens with an important essay on how and why Paris became famous as the international “capital of fashion.” Steele traces how the mythic “aura” of Paris fashion was constructed over generations, as the splendour of the court at Versailles came to be echoed by the spectacle of the haute couture. Yet Paris has faced repeated challenges from other fashion capitals, especially London, Milan, and New York. Essays by Christopher Breward, David Gilbert, Grazia d'Annunzio, and Antonia Finnane place Paris within a broader global narrative, while Sophie Kurkdjian investigates the cultural value of the Parisian couture, and Agnès Rocomora explores the online imagery of the chic Parisienne. As The New Yorker recently put it, Paris is “the most glamorous and competitive of the world's fashion capitals.” No other city has been branded “Fashion” as Paris has. By opening the study of Paris fashion to new approaches, this book explains why Paris still retains its position as the world's undisputed fashion capital.

Paris is renowned as the greatest fashion capital in the world. It has a rigid and tightly controlled system that non-western designers have difficulty penetrating. Yet a number of the most influential Japanese designers have broken into this scene and made a major impact. How? Kawamura shows how French fashion has been both disturbed and strengthened by the addition of "outside" forces such as Kenzo Takada, Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo, and Hanae Mori. She considers many other key questions the fashion industry should be asking itself. Does the system facilitate or inhibit creativity? Has it become preoccupied with the commercial projection of "product images" rather than with the clothing itself? And what direction will French fashion take without Saint Laurent, Miyake and Kenzo? This is the first in-depth study of the Japanese revolution in Paris fashion and raises provocative questions for the future of the industry.

The original book in the beloved and best-selling series about courage, compassion and a stylish little mouse, from acclaimed fashion illustrator Megan Hess. Claris: The Chicest Mouse in Paris follows an adorable mouse who dreams of moving to Paris to follow her fashion dreams. One day, she bravely takes the leap – only to find a mean little girl with a horrible-looking cat standing in the way of her perfect Parisian apartment! Can Claris use all her wit, warmth and – of course – style to make her dreams come true? Claris: The Chicest Mouse in Paris is the first picture book in a dazzling series for lovers of Eloise and Olivia. Compassion never goes out of style! Destined to delight fashion-obsessed readers of all ages. Three-quarters of a million Claris books in print! Megan Hess has sold over 1.5 million books in over ten languages worldwide. Shortlisted for the 2019 ABIA Picture Book of the Year Longlisted for the 2019 Indie Book Awards: Best Children's Book

The Fashion Insider's Guide to Paris is a carefully curated compendium of the current hotspots, classic haunts and hidden gems of one of the world's greatest fashion destinations.

Paris, Capital of Fashion accompanies a major exhibition at The Museum at FIT, New York's only museum dedicated solely to the art of fashion. This lavishly-illustrated book is edited by MFIT's director and chief curator, Valerie Steele, also the author of the acclaimed Paris Fashion: A Cultural History. This new book opens with an important essay on how and why Paris became famous as the international “capital of fashion.” Steele traces how the mythic “aura” of Paris fashion was constructed over generations, as the splendour of the court at Versailles came to be echoed by the spectacle of the haute couture. Yet Paris has faced repeated challenges from other fashion capitals, especially London, Milan, and New York. Essays by Christopher Breward, David Gilbert, Grazia d'Annunzio, and Antonia Finnane place Paris within a broader global narrative, while Sophie Kurkdjian investigates the cultural value of the Parisian couture, and Agnès Rocomora explores the online imagery of the chic Parisienne. As The New Yorker recently put it, Paris is “the most glamorous and competitive of the world's fashion capitals.” No other city has been branded “Fashion” as Paris has. By opening the study of Paris fashion to new approaches, this book explains why Paris still retains its position as the world's undisputed fashion capital.