The evolution of Paris Fashion Week

Arguably the most prestigious of fashion weeks, Paris in fact owes a debt to New York for its origins

If you’re in any way connected with the fashion industry it can seem almost impossible to conceive of a time when the biannual circus that is fashion month (or, if you happen to also cover menswear and couture, fashion quarter) didn’t exist. No attention-grabbing theatrics, no viral Instagram moments, no front row politics. How did the industry ever survive?

And yet, while fashion designers as we think of them today have been around for over a century, the modern fashion week is a fairly new phenomenon. The first official Paris Fashion Week recognised by the Fédération Française de la Couture didn’t take place until 1973. However, often considered the epicentre of global fashion, the tradition of shows in Paris extends back much farther than this. 

early fashion shows

Paris is widely accepted as the birthplace of the fashion show, with designers such as Charles Frederick Worth and Paul Poiret inviting customers to see clothing displayed on ‘mannequins’ throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, these were usually far more sedate affairs than the twice yearly explosions of opulence modern fashion followers have come to expect. 

Often held in a designer’s boutique or atelier, there would be no music or special lighting. Instead each model would simply be announced by a number and paraded quietly around the room in a functional presentation designed to showcase how garments would look on the body. At the end of the show customers would simply order the model numbers that had caught their eye. And while some designers, most notably Paul Poiret, would follow these events with large glamorous balls to showcase their new collections, such as the legendary The Thousand and Second Night Party in 1911, the ever-growing number of designers in Paris during the 20s and 30s saw a rise in anxieties, competition and copying. Accordingly fashion shows became even more exclusive with only the highest profile press and most loyal clients invited to attend. 

In fact, it wasn’t until after World War II that any kind of formal fashion show process was instigated. Growing globalism meant the New York fashion industry was beginning to exert more influence than ever on European markets and, in response, the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture moved to protect its members by stipulating all couture designers must be based in Paris, present at least 35 looks every season and all most only be available made-to-measure - restrictions that no New York designer could meet.

A fashion show in the 1950s. Credit: Kristine/Creative Commons

the battle of versailles

The re-establishment of Paris as the premier destination for high fashion was further cemented when Christian Dior allowed his famous debut show to be photographed, earning it, and the Parisian fashion scene in general, huge amounts of international press. However, despite the emergence of names including Pierre Cardin, Pierre Balmain and Hubert de Givenchy, alongside Yves Saint Laurent’s hugely influential establishment of prêt-à-porter, it would take nearly four decades for anything resembling a modern fashion week to appear.

Once again, it was Parisian insecurity about the rapidly expanding fashion industry across the pond - which was already holding formal fashion shows in New York - that prompted the event. Organised by the Fédération Française de la Couture, the 1973 Battle of Versailles fashion show saw the brightest names on the Parisian fashion scene take on five unknown American designers to see who would reign sartorially supreme. Ostensibly a fundraiser to help restore the Palace of Versailles, the event was a true spectacle. Collections by Yves Saint Laurent, Emanuel Ungaro, Christian Dior (designed by Marc Bohan), Pierre Cardin and Hubert de Givenchy on the French side were set against an opulent display of carriages and caravans pulled by rhinos. However, it was the clothing designed by Americans Anne Klein, Bill Blass, Oscar de la Renta, Halston and Stephen Burrows - presented on a largely African-American model line-up and supported with a performance by Liza Minnelli - that was eventually deemed the winner.

the modern PFW emerges

The Battle of Versailles provided a starting point from which Paris Fashion Week could lowly evolve into the biannual showstopper we’ve become accustomed to - helped along the way by a collection of visionary designers who ushered in the tradition for headline grabbing spectacles.

Chanel Haute Couture AW11. Credit: Haute Couture News

Unlike fashion weeks in London and New York, Paris has never had a central hub venue, retaining its roots of individual shows planned and executed by individual designers. This has allowed iconic fashion moments such as Thierry Mugler’s 1984 spectacular - presented to a crowd of 6,000 at Le Zenith stadium - and more memorable Chanel runways under the tenure of Karl Lagerfeld than one can count.
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Throughout the decades Paris has also held on to its reputation as the most prestigious of the international fashion weeks and, accordingly, attracts a roster of the biggest names in the global fashion industry. Among the non-Parisian talent to have chosen Paris Fashion Week as their stage are Brits Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen (for Givenchy) and John Galliano while Japanese designers Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo at Commes des Garcons also established themselves at Paris Fashion Week.

A Stella McCartney show during Paris Fashion Week

Of course, as with all the major fashion weeks, Paris Fashion Week has come under criticism for its lack of diversity and the age and weight of the models who walk there. As of October 2017, a new charter from French luxury conglomerates LVMH and Kering banned the use of models under the age of 16 or those with a so-called ‘size zero’ body (European size 34 for women or 44 for men). However, to date, no such efforts have been made to increase racial representation at Paris Fashion Week.

And, despite the extreme cost of throwing a fashion show (anywhere between $20,000 and $1 million depending on how lavish the presentation and how high profile the models), for many houses the return on investment is more than worth it. Analysis by Launchmetrics found that the Dior AW19 Paris Fashion Week show returned an estimated $22.6 million in Media Impact Value thanks to buzz around the show on social media, collection reviews and media coverage on high traffic websites following the show and social media posts shared by celebrities in attendance. 

All of which indicates that Paris Fashion Week would have rolled on unhindered for the foreseeable future had it not been for the global coronavirus pandemic. Taking place from July 6-8, Haute Couture Week was the first of the major Parisian fashion weeks to be forced to go entirely online, followed by the men’s SS21 collections a week later.

​And, while houses including Dior, Valentino, Maison Margiela and Chanel were praised for the creativity they brought to a digital fashion week - accelerating the already swirling conversation around whether physical shows are really necessary at all - it seems, in Paris at least, the elitist traditions of the fashion system remain. 

Shortly before the launch of its first digital fashion week, the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode confirmed that a physical fashion week would be taking place in September 2020 for the SS21 ready-to-wear collections. However, with Saint Laurent already having removed itself from the Paris Fashion Week schedule, growing case numbers in France and travel restrictions preventing many international press and buyers from attending, the few physical show that did take place were rather less extravagant than the spectacle the industry has come to expect. With doubt already swirling over the AW21 collections, could this be the end of Paris Fashion Week as we know it? Only time will tell.

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