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 jourbanalism, photography and exported fashion forecasting, Paris Fashion and World War Two makes a significant contribution to the cultural history of fashion.
Author(s): Lou Taylor, Marie McLoughlin
Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 362
City: London
PARIS FASHION AND WORLD WAR TWO
Global Diffusion and Nazi Control
PARIS FASHION AND WORLD WAR TWO Global Diffusion and Nazi Control
Table of Contents
Introduction 13 Marie McLoughlin and Lou Taylor
Chapter 1 From Berlin to Paris 25 Lou Taylor
Chapter 2 The Lyon haute nouveauté fashion textile industry during World War Two: design making, e
Chapter 3 Shortages in Paris 1940-1945: frivolous accessories become essential needs 77 Dominique
Chapter 4 ‘Much news from the fashion frontier’: Swedish neutrality and diffusion of Paris fashion
Chapter 5 From Paris haute couture to New York: maintaining the French domination of fashion acros
Chapter 6 New York and Paris fashions during World War Two: a competitive love affair 139 Sandra S
Chapter 7 Lisbon as a centre of couture fashion in World War Two and its Paris and international con
Chapter 8 Fashion in Denmark in the ‘Five Dark Years’ 183 Kirsten Toftegaard
Chapter 9 The diffusion, reception and use of Paris style information in Brazil and its couture sal
Chapter 10 Annexed, neutral and occupied: the worlds of couture in Austria, Switzerland and Belgium
Chapter 11 1944: London plans to become the ‘meridian’ of world fashion 247 Marie McLoughlin
Chapter 12 Paris fashion: an international product for an international clientele 271 Marie McLoughl
Chapter 13 The liberation of Paris and the state of the haute couture industry: late August 1944-19
Chapter 14 The end of the war in Europe to 1947: rejuvenating the international business of haute co
Conclusion 333 Lou Taylor and Marie McLoughlin
A Letter from Nuremberg, 1946 338 Lou Taylor
List of Illustrations 341
Index 349
Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
Premise
The development of our research
The impetus for this research
The structure of our book
Conclusion
References
Chapter 1 From Berlin to Paris Lou Taylor*
Nazi Germany
Nazi high society
Luxury goods and couture fashion in Nazi Germany
France and its couture trade in 1940
Nazi control over French culture
Otto Abetz and ‘cultural cooperation’
The Paris couture trade after Occupation: June 1940
Nazi anti-Semitic legislation
The reactions of the couturiers
Wartime couture clientele
BOF women
Resistants in the world of French couture
References
Endnotes
Chapter 2 The Lyon haute nouveauté fashion textile industry during World War Two: design making, exh
Introduction
Context
Lyon at the start of World War Two
Organisation of the French textile industries under Nazi control
Lyon silk and synthetic textile design and manufacture under Nazi control: 1940-1944
Replacement textiles
Designing Lyon fabrics
Vichyist designs
The exhibition of couture and haute nouveauté textiles
Exhibitions abroad and import/export
Spain
Switzerland
The end of the war
References
Endnotes
Chapter 3 Shortages in Paris 1940-1945: frivolous accessories become essential needs Dominique Veill
Economic and political contexts
Accessories and their multiple wartime functions
Handbags
Gloves
Stockings
Jewellery
Head Scarves
Shoes and hats and creative imagination
Hats
Conclusion
References
Endnotes
Chapter 4 ‘Much news from the fashion frontier’: Swedish neutrality and diffusion of Paris fashion d
Introduction
The Swedish policy of neutrality
Paris fashion industry under occupation
Censored fashion information
Parisian war fashion
Practical yet stylish war collections
Changes in Parisian fashion style
Following Paris Occupation couture style development in Sweden
Conclusion
References
Chapter 5 From Paris haute couture to New York: maintaining the French domination of fashion across
Introduction
Saving French Vogue and Jardin des Modes in the Phoney War period
The break of the Exodus
French Vogue and Jardin des Modes under Nazi censorship regulations
The political and economic dimension of fashion
Working without having to say ‘please’ to the Germans
Defending Parisian fashion in New York against accusations of collaboration
From fashion to political activities
Conclusion
References
Endnotes
Chapter 6 New York and Paris fashions during World War Two: a competitive love affair Sandra Stansbe
Before World War Two
1939: the war in Europe begins
What shall we do without Paris?
After the Liberation
References
Endnotes
Chapter 7 Lisbon as a centre of couture fashion in World War Two and its Paris and international con
Introduction
Lisbon in neutral Portugal: the great junction of Europe
Arriving to ‘another world’: Portugal 1940-1944
Leaving
Fashion leaders in Lisbon
Fashion in Portugal in World War Two
Paris couture in Lisbon
Lisbon and Porto couture in wartime
Couture millinery from Paris to Lisbon
Portuguese fashion magazines
The Liberation of Paris draws near
Conclusion
References
Endnotes
Chapter 8 Fashion in Denmark in the ‘Five Dark Years’ Kirsten Toftegaard
Introduction
The influence of Paris
Momentum for Danish couture
Home diligence sweeps across the country: shortage of materials and the use of alternative materials
Silent resistance
The Liberation
Conclusion
Sources
References
Endnotes
Chapter 9 The diffusion, reception and use of Paris style information in Brazil and its couture sal
Casa Canadá
Mena Fiala as sales director of Casa Canadá
Fashion press and social reportage in Brazil during World War Two
Impressions of a fashion show
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References
Sources
Endnotes
Chapter 10 Annexed, neutral and occupied: the worlds of couture in Austria, Switzerland and Belgium
Introduction
Austria
Austrian fashion and couture
Switzerland, the setting for Swiss fashion and textiles, 1939-1945: neutrality and relationships w
Swiss fashion textile exports
Swiss wartime fashion textiles
Album: Étude 1, Textiles Suisses pour la Mode/ÉTÉ 1943
The world of couture in wartime Switzerland
Paris couture in Switzerland
Switzerland: Conclusion
Belgium
The couture salons of Hirsch and Norine
Conclusion
References
Endnotes
Chapter 11 1944: London plans to become the ‘meridian’ of world fashion Marie McLoughlin
The Board of Education
The Board of Trade
Board of Trade quest for ‘continental élan’
West Cumberland Silk Mills
Kangol
The Aschers
Propaganda textiles and silk squares
Hans and Elsbeth Juda
Paris couturiers in London
The Incorporated Society of London Designers
The South American collection: textiles, couture and propaganda
British fashions and the United States of America
The Utility Scheme
Conclusion: ‘creativity as capital’
References
Endnotes
Chapter 12 Paris fashion: an international product for an international clientele Marie McLoughlin,
Worth and the founding of the Paris couture
Paquin
Creed
Wartime Paris couture shown abroad before the Occupation
Molyneux
Piguet
Schiaparelli
Mainbocher
Balenciaga
Conclusion
References
Archives
Endnotes
Postscript: Captain Edward Molyneux: Art collector* Nancy H. Yeide
Endnotes
Chapter 13 The liberation of Paris and the state of the haute couture industry: late August 1944-1
The Battle for Paris and the aftermath of Liberation
Democracy, social division and épuration
The row over Occupation style, late August 1945 to 1946: ‘subtle sabotage’?
The first post-Liberation collections and the continuing scandal
Efforts to resolve the style scandal and overcome accusations of loss of taste
References
Endnotes
Chapter 14 The end of the war in Europe to 1947: rejuvenating the international business of haute c
Thèâtre de la Mode
1946 style
Neutralising the scandal: the value of luxury couture exports
Late 1945-1947: international private clientele begin to return
New style and new business approach: Dior and the Corolle line collection of 1947
References
Endnotes
Conclusion Lou Taylor and Marie McLoughlin
Paris couture style diffusion throughout the Occupation
Postscript
References
Endnotes
List of Illustrations
Index
