From the Archive: French Class

by · WWD
"Paris Move," French Ready-To-Wear, WWD, October 11, 1965.Fairchild Archive/WWD

The story of French ready-to-wear reads like a study-abroad class in fashion, culture and commerce. It was in 1948 when WWD reported that the first group of French stylists and trade manufacturers, with the support of the Compagnie Française du Prêt-à-Porter, had arrived in the U.S. to study American fashion production. In the same year, Christian Dior opened his first Stateside boutique. Yves Saint Laurent would arrive in the 1960s. This exchange and the Paris International Ready-to-Wear Salon presentations attracting American buyers, helped elevate French rtw onto the world stage.

In “Paris Moves,” a 1965 preview of its spring collections, WWD highlighted the next rage in French rtw in a whimsically illustrated five-page spread featuring designs from Cacharel to Chloé, designed by Karl Lagerfeld. With his instinct for culture, Lagerfeld’s loose, lightweight silk surah “baseball” T-shirtdress, finished with two or three belts for effect, was a study in the ease and irreverent spirit beginning to take hold of fashion at the time.

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“Paris Move,” French ready-to-wear, WWD, Oct. 11, 1965. Fairchild Archive/WWD