Paris, Capital of Fashion

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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. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright page Contents Preface CHAPTER ONEParis, “Capital of Fashion” From Royal Splendor to the Spectacle of the Haute Couture Paris = La Parisienne = Fashion (Especially Haute Couture) Paris Defends Its Title as the World Capital of Fashion CHAPTER TWOParis, London, Shanghai:Touring the FashionImaginary The Paris That’s Not in the Guide Books London Calling All About Shanghai CHAPTER THREEParis, New York, London,Milan: Paris and a WorldOrder of Fashion Capitals The Fashion Capital at the “Paris End” of the World Soft Power and Imperial Anxieties: The Ascendance of Parisin Fashion’s World Order Paris Fashion: Made in New York Paris and Fashion’s World Order in the Late Twentiethand Twenty-First Centuries CHAPTER FOURParis and a Taleof Italian Cities Praising Paris, Erasing Paris Boycotting Paris Confronting Paris Coming from Paris, Going to Paris CHAPTER FIVEBetween Beijing andShanghai: Fashion in theParty State China’s Fashion Cities Belt and Road: Some Implications for Fashion Past and Future China’s Fashion Cities CHAPTER SIXThe Cultural Valueof Parisian Couture The Same Chambre for Couture and Confection Towards an Institutionalization of Parisian Couture Saving the Economy and the Image of ParisianCouture, 1914–1918 Cleansing the Couture Industry Being Seen Abroad The Power of the Chambre Syndicale Saving the Essence and Identity of ParisianFashion, 1939–1945 The Only Means of “Saving” Parisian Couture CHAPTER SEVEN#parisienne: Social MediaStratification in Visions ofParisian Women Introduction “La Parisienne par Excellence” Effortless Parisienne La Parisienne: Model of Exclusion? Conclusion Endnotes Image List Notes on Contributors Index Acknowledgments