Paris is the Birthplace of Cinema and the Capital of Couture
Wed. 3 April ‘24 20:19
Paris is considered the birthplace of cinema and the capital of fashion/style/couture because it was the first in the world to make incredible breakthroughs in filmmaking, and photography, and French fashion became an imminent status symbol. Fashioning The City: Paris, Fashion and the Media requotes “French cinema is very Parisian.” Romantic films love to film scenes in Paris because Paris represents the city of love to the world. Paris the city itself, is a symbol of notable cinema, and fashion legends, and is known for its luxury goods such as food, clothing, and glamorous courtesans (serviceable women).
Within Paris Fashion: A Cultural History, the author introduces “By 1685, Charles Le Maire’s history of Paris boasted that “Parisians dress better than anyone else in Europe. The shopkeepers of the rue Saint-Honoré sent out every month to clients in Europe, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and the New World.” In the 18th century, there was a Parisian mania for new fashions. “The French fashion industry works day and night” to create new styles, “making Europe French,” declared one observer in the 1770s. Even French second-hand clothing was eagerly purchased in neighboring countries once it had become unfashionable in France, noted a German writer.”
In the 19th century, capitalism drastically changed how fashion was produced. Americans, Spaniards, and other people tried to recreate Parisian fashion designs, but they were unsuccessful in their attempts to create garments equal to the quality of haute couture. France set the world’s standard on fashion. Nobody else could come close to the precision and perfection of French made-to-order clothing. French clothing became the world’s leading status symbol for centuries. 1947 was Paris’ triumphant return to luxury fashion, after the Nazi occupation.
After watching the documentary film Yellow is Forbidden, I learned about the nuances of high fashion for ordinary people. Average people never have the opportunity to wear couture items due to the steep price. As a child, Guo Pei was drawn to the allure of garments worn by Chinese royals centuries ago. Guo Pei recreated wearable art inspired by traditional Chinese clothing. She wanted her designs to one day be immersed in the French industry. Haute couture was a new universe to Guo Pei because China was culturally and geographically closed off from the Western world after the Chinese Revolution. Ordinary people in China needed access to learn about the Western world. Only affluent Chinese people could travel abroad and study Western culture/art/fashion.
The documentary Yellow is Forbidden made me emotional because I can culturally relate to Guo Pei’s struggles to become a successful fashion professional in the Western world. Guo Pei was scared to call her fashion designs haute couture because the term is exclusively reserved for French fashion houses. She desired to have her designs enter the French luxury fashion market, which she accomplished through her runway show in Paris.
Guo Pei relied on her husband to fund her label because their minimal profit could not keep producing handmade couture pieces– each item takes hundreds to thousands of hours to complete. Guo Pei worked as a fashion designer for 30 years before she became internationally acclaimed. Her determination is the heart and core of haute couture– to continue creating fabulous art even if it is not making money– to do the work because creating art brings her joy.
