5 French Fashion Brands and How They Transformed the World of Fashion

5 Frech Fashion Brands – History on the People Behind the Brand.

It’s no secret that we adore French fashion brands. We spend our days gathering all the tips and tricks from our favourite French influencers from whom we take inspiration on perfecting Parisian style. However, even France’s elite have to get their inspiration from somewhere which is why we are taking a look at our top 5 French fashion brands that laid the groundworks of French fashion and remain a huge influence in today’s fashion industry.

These 5 luxury fashion brands are the essence of timeless French style and elegance. Learning more about them is a great way to help you integrate the effortless Parisian style into your own wardrobe.

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Chanel

Of course, we had to start with the iconic Chanel. Founded by couturière Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel in 1910, Chanel has embedded itself into French culture and society over the years and has pushed boundaries within the fashion industry.

During her time as a chanteuse (female singer), Gabrielle Chanel gained the nickname ‘’Coco’’, hence the House of Chanel is represented by two interlocked letters ‘’C’’ for Coco Chanel which was first introduced in the late 1980s.

The brand focuses on women’s ready-to-wear clothes, luxury goods and accessories, catering specifically to women’s taste for elegance with blouses, suits, trousers, dresses and jewellery with simple designs such as the ever-iconic Chanel tweed suit.

Not only did Coco Chanel’s designs replace the opulent, over-designed and constrictive clothes of the early 20^th century she revolutionised both high-end and everyday fashion by replacing structured silhouettes and corset bodices, with pieces that were practical, functional and above all, flattering to the women’s figure.

Chanel also regularly used colours such as grey and navy blue, which were considered masculine at the time, to signify female boldness of character. The classic quilted leather seen on today’s classic Chanel handbags were designed for practicality, to maintain function and form, as well as for its haute couture elegance.

Coco Chanel herself was and still remains an icon, someone who speaks for women all around the world and pushes them to be the best versions of themselves. Chanel is the epitome of French fashion and class and a gift to the fashion industry and society. 

Most Iconic Products: Chanel No.5 Perfume

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Louis Vuitton

Founded in 1854, Louis Vuitton Malletier, more commonly known as Louis Vuitton is one of the world’s most valuable luxury brands and another French fashion and cultural icon.

Established by Louis Vuitton, the fashion house creates luxury goods ranging from leather goods, ready-to-wear, shoes and trunks to sunglasses, jewellery and books, most of which will carry the classic LV monogram.

The Monogram Canvas itself was launched in 1896 and its graphics include symbols of quatrefoils and flowers, as well as the LV monogram, based on the trend of using Japanese Mon designs in the late Victorian era and has been used on the earliest Louis Vuitton products such as the Keepall bag, the Noé bag and the Speedy bag, all of which are still made today.

Louis Vuitton is one of the most counterfeited brands in the fashion world due to its image as a high-class symbol. The Monogram Canvas was in fact created to prevent counterfeiting however, in 2004, 18% of counterfeit accessories seized in the European Union were fake Louis Vuitton.

Due to the magnitude of the counterfeiting issue, Louis Vuitton now only sell their products in their standalone boutiques with an exception of upscale shopping districts or inside luxury department stores which makes the brand all the more exclusive and elite.

Louis Vuitton is celebrated for its classy and simple designs however over the past 20 years the brand has collaborated with many prominent artists and designers, such as Marc Jacobs, Supreme and Takashi Murakami, to create stand-out pieces that bring a new and unique twist to the traditional and timeless design. 

Despite some of the media controversies Louis Vuitton has attracted in the past few years, it still remains one of the most valuable and high-class brands in the world due to its ability to retain style and luxury of its products without compromising on quality and therefore making it a staple in French fashion.

Most Iconic Products: Louis Vuitton Neverfull Tote

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Yves Saint Laurent:

Yves Saint Laurent, known also as Saint Laurent, is a French luxury fashion house founded by Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé, in 1962.

The brand markets a range of women’s and men’s ready-to-wear products, leather goods, shoes and accessories and Yves Saint Laurent Beauté also has a large presence in the beauty and fragrance market. 

Saint Laurent was the first designer to popularise ready-to-wear in an attempt to democratise fashion. He revolutionised the fashion world during the 1960s and 1970s by creating fashion fit for both men and women that updated the trends, making fashion more contemporary and forward-thinking, especially by giving women’s ready-to-wear a more masculine and practical approach.

The brand popularised trends such as the beatnik look, safari jackets for men and women, tight trousers and tall, thigh-high boots, including the creation of arguably the most famous classic tuxedo suit for women in 1966, the Le Smoking suit. Saint Laurent also started normalising the idea of wearing silhouettes from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s and is credited for initiating the padded, broad-shoulder styles that would distinguish the 1980s.

In 1999, Italian fashion house Gucci bought the YSL brand and asked Tom Ford (Gucci’s creative director at the time) to design the ready-to-wear collection while Saint Laurent would design the haute-couture collection.

2002, following years of poor health, depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, and criticisms of YSL, Saint Laurent closed the couture house of YSL. 2012, YSL’s ready-to-wear line was rebranded as Saint Laurent, however, the Yves Saint Laurent name and YSL logo have been preserved for accessories such as handbags, shoes and cosmetics. 

Before his death in 2008, Saint Laurent, reflecting on his career and impact on the fashion industry, famously said ‘’Chanel freed women, and I empowered them’’. He also stated ‘’I created the contemporary woman’s wardrobe’’.

Saint Laurent developed fashion to accommodate the changes during that period by approaching fashion from a new perspective by helping women to find confidence by looking both comfortable and elegant at the same time.

His forward-thinking style and his use of non-European cultural references and use of diverse models contribute to his reputation of being one of the foremost fashion designers of the 20^th century and a massive influence on past and current French fashion.

Most Iconic Products: Saint Laurent Bag

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Christian Dior

Christian Dior, more commonly known as Dior is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1946 by French fashion designer Christian Dior. The brand sells luxury shoes, ready-to-wear, leather goods and accessories and has an haute couture division under the name Christian Dior Couture. 

In 1947, Christian Dior launched his first fashion collection for Spring-Summer 1947 which went down in history as the ‘’New Look’’ after the editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar exclaimed, ‘’It’s such a new look!’’.

The New Look was a revolutionary era in fashion for women at the end of the 1940s and has been credited for having revived the fashion industry of France after Paris had fallen from its position as the capital of the fashion world after WWII. The collection showcased more stereotypically feminine designs in contrast to the more practical wartime fashion, with full skirts, tight waists and soft shoulders.

It brought back the spirit of haute couture in France as it was considered glamorous, chic and youthful. It became extremely popular in the United States and Europe and its full-skirted silhouette influenced other fashion designers in the 1950s and more recent designers in the 2000s including, Thom Browne, Miuccia Prada and Vivienne Westwood. 

Despite the New Look gaining Dior prominent clients from Hollywood and the European aristocracy, there was also a lot of criticism. Feminists, in particular, criticised the designs, feeling that the corseted designs were restrictive and regressive and that they took away a woman’s independence.

Fellow designer Coco Chanel said ‘’Only a man who never was intimate with a woman could design something that uncomfortable.’’ Even with this criticism, the New Look remained highly influential for the Dior brand as well as other designers and the fashion world.

2007, for the 60th anniversary of the New Look, John Galliano revisited the original designs with a modernised update for his Spring-Summer collection for Dior and in 2012 Raf Simons did the same for his debut haute couture collection for Dior, wishing to update its ideas for the 21^st century.

Until this day, the impact of Christian Dior’s creativity in fashion has earned him recognition as one of history’s greatest fashion figures who re-established Paris as the fashion capital of the world and is the main influence behind the ultimate class and style that French fashion represents. 

Most Iconic Product: Christian Dior Lady Dior bag

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Hermès

Hermès is a French luxury design house that specialises in leather goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishing, perfumery, jewellery, watches and ready-to-wear. Founded in 1837 by Thierry Hermès the brand started off with Hermès and his son crafting saddlery and wrought harnesses for the carriage trade for which they won several awards. In the 1920s, clothing and accessories were added to the collection and in 1922, the first leather handbags were introduced.

1929, the first women’s couture apparel collection was previewed in Paris and during the 1930s, Hermès introduced some of its most recognised original goods such as the leather ‘’Sac à dépêches’’ in 1935.

It was later renamed the ‘’Kelly bag’’ after Grace Kelly and the Hermès carrés (square scarves) in 1937 which became integrated into French culture. 1938, the ‘’Chaîne d’ancre’’ bracelet and the riding jacket became part of the classic collection.

By this point, it is said that the company’s designers were drawing inspiration from paintings, books and objets d’art. Thierry Hermès’s grandson, Émile-Maurice who was the Creative Director of Hermès during this time, summarised Hermès philosophy during his leadership as ‘’leather, sport, and a tradition of refined elegance.’’

By the 1980s, tableware and fragrance became a strong segment of the brand and by 2008, Hermès had 14 product divisions that encompassed leather, scarves, ties, men’s and women’s wear, perfume, watches, stationery, footwear, gloves, enamelware, decorative arts, tableware and jewellery.

The brand maintains its traditional business model and rejects mass production, assembly lines and mechanisation with almost all Hermès goods being made in France by hand. Hermès claims that most items are created from beginning to end by only one person, therefore guaranteeing the quality and uniqueness of its products.

The construction of each Kelly bag, for example, requires around 18 hours from start to finish. Hermès also refuse to use man-made materials for their products and therefore only use natural materials that get shipped from all over the world which is yet another reason behind the brand’s exclusivity and long waiting lists with customers currently waiting anywhere between 6 months to a year for delivery of some of the house’s most popular products.

2019, Hermès was ranked 33^rd in the Forbes List ‘’World’s Most Valuable Brands’’ which highlights its massive contribution to the design industry and its influence in timeless, chic and elegant French fashion and culture.

Most Iconic Product: The Birkin Bag

Author: Ellena Streistik