Women and Fashion in France

Sonia Rykiel was born on May 25^th, 1930 in Paris, France. As a young adult Sonia was employed to dress the window displays in a Parisian textile store. In 1953, she married Sam Rykiel who owned a clothing boutique. In 1962, Sonia became pregnant.  After not being able to find anything to wear, Sonia began to make her own maternity clothes.

Sonia began to sell her popular maternity sweaters in her husband’s boutique. In 1967 Sonia Rykiel was named the “Queen of Knitwear” by WWD and became a household name when ELLE featured her “poor boy” sweater on the front cover. In 1968 Rykiel opened her line and ready-to-wear boutique on rue de Grenelle in Paris.

Although Rykiels signature is her knitwear, she also became known for being the first designer to print words on her sweaters and to put seams on the outside of a garment. Rykiel is known for more muted tones: usually beige, navy, charcoal and grey. She favors long clinging sweaters, small-cropped pullovers and long shawls.

In addition to being a fashion designer, Sonia Rykiel is also an illustrator and published author. She has written several books including a collection of children’s stories and an A to Z of fashion.

Sonia Rykiel has retired and left her daughter Natalie as creative director of the fashion house. Maison Rykiel is currently the only fashion house in France that is 100% family owned.

Maison Rykiel is still thriving today with boutiques in France and the United States. Sonia Rykiel’s designs are still impacting the fashion world each season as the brand continues to prove that knitwear can follow any trend. 

Agnes B. was born Angès Andrée Marguerite Troublé in 1941 in Versailles, France. She graduated from École des Beaux-Arts and started a career in fashion when she caught the eyes of ELLE staffers at a Paris flea market. ELLE was impressed with her thrifty personal style and hired her as a junior editor. She left ELLE after less than two years because she preferred designing to editing.

She got jobs designing for Limitex, Pierre d’Alby, V de V, and Eversbin. In 1975 Agnes opened her first boutique on Rue du Jour in Paris. Agnes B. designed clothing for men, women, and children that reflects the spirit of the age by creating a wardrobe that can easily adapt to every personality and can be worn through the ages. She has maintained many of the same silhouettes that were introduced in the seventies; including long, striped tees, snap cardigans, and streamlined suits.

In addition to designing clothes, Agnes B. has designed watches and eyewear for Seiko and a beauty line for L’oréal.

Agnes B. continues to design collections today and has quietly grown her chic, everyday designs into an international brand despite the label’s lack of advertising. Today, Agnes B. has over 100 stores internationally and continues to thrive in the ever-changing world of fashion. 

Dorothée Bis, the Paris ready-to-wear house, was founded in 1962 by Jacqueline (designer) and Elie (manufacturer) Jacobson. The house quickly established itself as a stylish and contemporary sportswear line.

When the Jacobson’s opened Dorothee Bis, the idea was to cater to young people and to employ young people that wore the same clothes as the shoppers. Dorothee Bis was one of the first fashion houses to present styles such as long and skinny maxi looks in knit coats and vests in the late 1960s, the peasant look in the early 1970s, the layered look in the mid 1970s. and the graphic color block look of the late 1970s and early 1980s. These looks were presented as total ensembles, unlike the American idea of mix-and-match.

Bernardine Morris, writer for the New York Times, described Dorothée Bis as one of “the quintessential Paris ready-to-wear houses aiming at the young swinging crowd who prefer to change their style every season if not oftener.” Dorothee Bis continually developed its concept of dressing in layers, a look that reflected women’s growing liberation and consciousness. The fashion house looks appeal in their ease and comfort and always give the wearer an air of Parisian stylishness.

In the 1980’s with the return of  body-revealing fashions, many women repelled these styles and sought to regain a sense of power through their dress. Dorothée Bis was right in step with this trend with a new focus on dresses, especially in the firm’s signature knits. A typical Dorothée Bis outfit of the period, a navy-and-white striped wool knit two-piece dress with deep V-neckline and padded shoulders, was described in a Macy’s 1986 advertisement as evidence of “a new body emphasis…curve conscious and deserving of its stripes.”

The company has numerous boutiques throughout France, each with a life-sized rag doll sitting in a chair somewhere on the premises. With the firm’s emphasis on its highly adaptable and appealing signature knits, Dorothée Bis has been able to remain at the forefront of stylish and realistic fashion for nearly 40 years.

Christian Dior was born on January 21, 1905 in Granville, France. Although his family had hopes that he would become a diplomat, Dior decided to follow his passion for art. To make money he sold his fashion sketches for about 10 cents each. In 1928, he and a friend opened a small art gallery selling works from artist like Pablo Picasso.

After serving for some time in the army, Dior returned to Paris in 1942 and began working at the Lucien Lelong fashion house. After the war in 1946, Christian Dior opened his own fashion house. His designs were called the “New Look”, a phrase coined by Carmel Snow, editor-in-chief of Harpers Bazaar. The New Look is characterized by its feminine elegance, with delicate shoulders, tight waists and full skirts. Dior’s designs were more voluptuous than boxy, and he often used hip-padding, petticoats, and wasp-waisted corsets that made dresses flare out from the waist, giving women a very curvaceous form. His skirts were also longer in length, usually to mid-calf, a design many women initially didn’t like because it covered their legs.

Each of Diors collection had a theme;  Spring 1947 was “Carolle” or “figure 8,” a name that suggested the silhouette of the new look with its prominent shoulders, accentuated hips, and small waist. The spring 1953 collection, dubbed “Tulip,” featured an abundance of floaty, flowery prints. Spring 1955’s “A-line,” with its undefined waist and smooth silhouette that widened over the hips and legs, resembled a capital “A.”

Christian Dior’s opulent designs contrasted with the grim post-war reality of Europe, and helped re-establish Paris as the joyful fashion capital it had once been. Dior Died on October 23, 1957 in Montecatini, Italy while on holiday.

After Dior’s death a young designer, Yves Saint Laurent was hired. Laurent’s collection was wildly received by the fashion world and he was deemed a national hero for bringing life back into Maison Dior. Yves Saint Laurent’s designs became more daring and were inspired by the existentialists in the Saint-Germain de Pres cafes and jazz clubs. Marcel Boussac a stakeholder and CEO of the company after Dior’s death was furious with Laurent’s new direction in fashion and fired the young designer after only two years at the label.

The fashion house remained open with Marc Bohan designing, however, it received mediocre reviews and presented less-than-innovative designs. In 1996, a young Britain, John Galliano was appointed chief designer of Christian Dior by the company’s new owner, the LVMH luxury goods group. Galliano was instrumental in reviving Dior’s image as one of the world’s most luxurious and innovative fashion houses.

In Spring 2011, Galliano was fired from Dior after an anti-Semintic rant went public. The video shows an inebriated Galliano stating “I love Hitler”. This rant coupled with Gallianos admitted addiction to alcohol and sleeping pills have undoubtedly tarnished the designers career. Despite this, noone can refute the genious that is Galliano; one of the most innovative, opulent, and avant guarde designers of our time. Dior has yet to replace Galliano’s position, yet many have speculated that Marc Jacobs is Diors first pick to hire on as fashion-director.

Cristóbal Balenciaga was born on January 21, 1895 in Guetaria, Spain. As a child Balenciaga studied dressmaking and was inspired to become a couturier after a visit to Paris. By the age of 20 Balenciaga had his own fashion house, and over the next 15 years became Spain’s leading couturier.

In 1937, Balenciaga moved to Paris after the Spanish Civil War disrupted his business. He presented his first collection in Paris during the summer of 1937. Balenciaga received almost immediate praise from the fashion world. The French press dubbed his designs as revolutionary and Carmel Snow, the editor of Harper’s Bazaar was an early champion of his designs.

During World War II, Balenciaga was known for his designs with black lace over bright pink fabric and his “square coat”. Balenciaga’s popularity soared even higher after WWII when he began to use more sleek and linear lines. In 1951, he totally transformed the silhouette, broadening the shoulders and removing the waist. In 1955 he created the first tunic dress. Balenciaga was also noted for inventing the high waisted baby doll dress, the cocoon coat, and the balloon skirt. Perhaps one of Balenciaga’s greatest inventions was his high-waisted dresses and coats cut like kimonos. However, it is his manipulation of the waist that is considered to be his most important contribution to the world of fashion; he created a new silhouette for women.

Balenciaga leaned toward heavy fabrics, bold materials and elaborate embroidery. This heavier fabric allowed Balenciaga to create his trademark collars, which stood away from the collarbone to give a swanlike appearance. Another trademark was his shortened “bracelet” sleeve.

Balenciaga retired in 1968 and later died in 1972. In 1986, Jacques Bogart S.A. acquired the rights to Balenciaga. In 1992, Dutch designer Josephus Thimister began to restore Balenciaga to an elite, high fashion brand. Under Thimister, a young Nicolas Ghesquière worked as a license designer. Eventually, in 1997, Nicolas Ghesquière was promoted to head designer.

Balenciaga is now owned by the Gucci Group and its womenswear and menswear is headed by Nicolas Ghesquièr. The hip, fresh interpretation of Balenciaga classics, such as the semifitted jacket and the sack dress, caught the attention of the media and celebrities: from Anna Wintour to Madonna.  With boutiques worldwide and the fashion worlds continued praise, Maison Balenciaga’s future looks bright