The YSL brand, like Dior, also moved from a single status to a member of a luxury conglomerate (this time PPR/Gucci Group), although the route taken was a bit different. We can learn from the bumps in the road on this one.
Read MoreDior & LVMH: The French Business Model for Fashion & Luxury
The business model that began as a single brand directed by one creative mind has become a model composed of a portfolio of complimentary luxury brands, exemplified by the evolution of Christian Dior & the ultimate luxury conglomerate: LVMH.
Read MoreThe French System for Fashion & Chanel
A case study of Chanel illustrating the French fashion system: Couture is the dream; accessories and fragrances are the reality.
Read MoreFashion History: France & WW2
If you're a history buff, looking for creative inspiration during hard times, or happen to be bored in Paris (unlikely), there is an exhibit going on now at the Mémorial du Marechal Leclerc de Hauteclocque et de la Libération de Paris – Musée Jean Moulin, twin museums dedicated to the French Resistance and Liberation of Paris. The exhibit shows a vast collection of fashions and accessories from the era, and runs through Nov. 15, 2009. You can see first hand examples of how Parisians were using whatever materials they had available in order to maintain there forward-thinking edge in fashion.
I personally think this exhibit represents a duality in Paris, at a time when haute couture could not be made due to market and supply shortages, and where Paris was itself isolated from the global audience. Here you can see how everyday-people in Occupied Paris incorporated radical and creative pieces into their daily wardrobes, demonstrating the early ingredients of a culture that would take France beyond the couturiers of the French Court of Louis XIV, and into the modern spotlight of high-fashion after the war.
Photo By E.Emo and S.Piera/Galliera/Roger-Viollet