PARIS CAPITALE DE LA MODE, 50 ANS DE FASHION WEEK!

Now streaming on TV5MONDEplus.

2024 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Paris fashion week. We look back at half a century of creativity since Kenzo and Rykiel's arrival in the 1970s, including the rise of Gaultier, Lacroix, Mugler and Lagerfeld in the 1980s... An event now accessible to everyone thanks to the social networks.

Director: Loïc Prigent (France, 2024)

A hundred shows, millions of views on Instagram, and billions of euros in sales: The week dedicated to women’s ready-to-wear, which is held in France twice a year, is the most important in the world. In Paris capitale de la mode, 50 ans de Fashion Week, now streaming on TV5MONDEplus, French journalist and documentary filmmaker Loïc Prigent offers an oral history of the great fashion event, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year.

Interview by Clément Thiery

How did this retrospective documentary come about?

Loïc Prigent: I didn’t know that Paris Fashion Week was 50 years old! I heard about it during a conversation with representatives of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. It was an interesting story to tell, but there was no official account of this French industrial revolution. No documented history, no book. To complicate things, its founders – Karl Lagerfeld, Sonia Rykiel, and Kenzō Takada, along with Pierre Bergé – have all passed away. We had to investigate, find sources, and piece together the puzzle.

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Zendaya attends Paris Fashion Week ©Bangumi-Deralf

How did the first edition in 1974 take place?

The shows took place in prestigious hotels, at the Palais de Chaillot, at the Bourse de Commerce, and in a store for Sonia Rykiel. The atmosphere was joyful, and the models broke away from what haute couture was doing at the time. This was the invention of the model size we know today. Where haute couture showcased women resembling clients, ready-to-wear displayed idealized bodies. Models came from Northern Europe and the United States; they were very tall, broad-shouldered, with relatively little chest and few curves, slender like a charcoal line. The “Battle of Versailles” of November 28, 1973, had a considerable impact: French fashion realized how outdated it was compared to what was happening in the United States!

 

The very idea of a Fashion Week originated with Americans. In 1943, New York organized a Press Week for fashion editors who couldn’t travel to Paris due to the war. Why did it take over thirty years for the movement to take root across the Atlantic?

After World War II, France was in ruins – morally, economically, and industrially. When Elle magazine was launched in November 1945, the first covers were printed in the United States. French journalists traveled to New York to draw inspiration from Harper’s Bazaar and visit department stores. The ready-to-wear system was born in the U.S., and France lagged behind. The country recovered thanks in part to fashion: In 1950, Dior represented 50% of French exports. The term prêt-à-porter appeared in our vocabulary two years later. It then took over twenty years to solidify the industry and organize a true Fashion Week. This also relates to generational changes. Baby boomers created French ready-to-wear. As fashion collector Olivier Châtenet explains in the film, “the main driving force was [...] youth and their desire.”

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Rihanna ©Bangumi-Deralf

How do you explain the importance of Paris over New York, London, and Milan?

The city has long been the theater of fashion. We have the legacy of Louis XIV, the heritage of Versailles, the significance of major luxury groups, but also the fantasy of the young creator arriving in Paris – like Sonia Rykiel, Jean-Paul Gaultier, or Martin Margiela – and taking the capital by storm. This human comedy continues to fascinate, between fantasy and industry, poetry and marketing. Paris has also become the capital of fashion due to the scale of its Fashion Week. Some shows reach the size of a world’s fair, a movie set, a Hollywood premiere!

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Jean-Paul Gaultier, French fashion designer ©Bangumi-Deralf

It is often said that Fashion Week predicts tomorrow’s trends. Fantasy or reality?

The Paris fashion world likes to believe that they create the movement, but it can all start with a barista in Los Angeles! Very often, it’s people on the streets or in the music industry who become trendsetters. The fashion industry then takes on marketing to spread new trends on a massive scale. It’s not just about the shows.

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Kim Kardashian ©Bangumi-Deralf

What are your earliest memories of Fashion Week? As a journalist, you must have attended many shows...

At least a thousand! I started in 1995, so I’ve witnessed more than half of Paris Fashion Week’s history. My friend Anne Boulay, who worked at Libération, gave me invitations. At the Dior show, they saw that my name wasn’t “Anne,” but they still let me in. I’m not sure that would work today! I remember the choreography of the models, Linda Evangelista and the way she walked without moving her head, the pack of photographers, and the stone-faced ladies sitting in the front row, all coiffed like Nancy Reagan... I was also struck by how international the event was! The creative community from around the world had come to Paris to express themselves.

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Vogue's Editor, Anna Wintour and actress Isabelle Huppert attend Paris Fashion Week ©Bangumi-Deralf

What are you looking forward to seeing this season?

I can’t wait to discover the work of young designers like Ellen Hodakova Larsson and established names like Balmain. I’m waiting to see what Catherine Deneuve thinks of the Saint Laurent collection. I’m also excited for the Chanel show, which will mark the official reopening of the Grand Palais. Jonathan Anderson’s show for Loewe should be incredible, just like Schiaparelli’s! I also love Rick Owens! I love attending two shows back-to-back, in completely different styles and moods. It’s like watching an Orson Welles film followed by a Tarantino two hours later. And let’s not forget the closing show by Coperni, which will take place at Disneyland in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle!

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French actress Catherine Deneuve attends Paris Fashion Week ©Bangumi-Deralf

What do you think Fashion Week will look like in fifty years?

What’s surprising is that the format of the shows has changed little since 1974. Some setups are more sophisticated than others, but we always return to the same mechanics: Models come out from backstage, walk in a more or less white room, turn back, walk some more, and leave. That said, the climate crisis will have a major impact on the event. Will we still be able to fly as much to attend shows?

 

Can we expect more shows outside Paris, like Jacquemus in a lavender field in Provence in 2019?

Every fashion house dreams of replicating such a spectacle! But they need the echo chamber that Paris provides. This was the realization that gave birth to Fashion Week in 1974: Together, we are stronger. Combining shows in the same place, at the same time, allows you to reach more buyers, more journalists. Even if there’s sometimes a sense of saturation, of having “done” Paris, it remains a powerful moment. How can you get tired of the Grand Palais? Or the Palais de Chaillot and the Bourse de Commerce, where some of the first shows took place in 1974? And in fifty years, there will be new venues, new technologies, new designers, and new spectators!

Paris capitale de la mode, 50 ans de Fashion Week (90 min) is currently available to stream on TV5MONDEplus!

TV5MONDEplus is the world’s largest on-demand, French-language streaming platform. The premier French-language streaming platform's content includes films, TV shows, sports and news from the French-speaking world, including France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, African countries and more. TV5MONDEplus originals and other content is available in full HD quality and subtitled in six languages: French, English, Spanish, German, Arabic, and Romanian. In the U.S., TV5MONDEplus is available at no additional cost to TV5MONDE USA subscribers via streaming and select pay-TV providers. 

 

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Marc Jacobs ©Bangumi-Deralf

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Olivier Rousteing, Creative Director for Balmain ©Bangumi-Deralf

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Thierry Mugler, French fashion designer ©Bangumi-Deralf