THE TYRANNY OF PARIS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 788, 8 October 1929, Page 5

THE TYRANNY OF PARIS

ENGLISH DESIGNERS USE FRENCH MATERIALS.

The question has sometimes been asked why it is that in the matter of dress Paris sets the fashion for women and London for men. One reply given is that the French are more artistic than the British, and the British more practical than the French; and as women want dresses to be beautiful, they go to Paris for their models, and as men ask only that their clothes may be serviceable and comfortable, they find that London best supplies their needs. The explanation, though plausible, is not quite correct. The London tailor in his way is just as much an artist as the Paris dressmaker. His scope may be more limited, but he is a master of the subtleties and nuances which go to create stylo. Rose Bertin, Marie Antoinette's famous dressmaker, whose name today is commemorated by a London llrm of repute, was just as much an artist as the best couturieres of today. But, despite frequent visits to London, she never succeeded in obtaining an English clientele, and the shop which she opened in London in 1793 existed lor little more than a 3’ ear. Owing to the Napoleonic wars Lcroi, who followed her as dressmaker to the Court under the Empress Josephine, had little chance of capturing the English trade, and his immediate successors fared no better. It was not until the days of the second Empire that Paris models came to have any considerable vogue in London. The Success of Worth

Let me remind those who believe that the French have a greater aptitude for dress design than the British, that the artist who succeeded where Rose Bertin and her successors had failed was not a Frenchwoman at all. but an Englishman named Charles Frederick Worth, who served his apprenticeship at Messrs. Swan and Edgar’s, and being interested in French fabrics, went to Paris, took to designing, and founded the famous house of Worth. No dress designer ever had such a success. Worth was acknowledged as the uncrowned King of Fashion. All Paris and half London flocked to his salons in the Rue de la. Paix, and his profits are said to have reached the enormous sum of .£ 50.000 a year. The position which lie, as an Englishman, won for Paris, Paris has ever since retained. “Model” 1 louses continued to multiply in Paris, and it was accepted as almost beyond dispute that original models must be designed in Paris. Worth was not the only British designer of genius. Lucile, Elspetli Phelps, whose business was merged in Paquin’s, and Molyneux, the founder of one of the best of the Paris dressmaking firms of today', are all British. English Tweeds Yet. in spite of all the evidence to the contrary, the opinion still prevails among the public that British designers are yfo t the equals of the French, and that if we are to be in the mode we must slavishly obey the dictates of a clique of Parisian dressmakers. The paramount position of Paris has far more serious consequences than the mere loss to London dressmakers. It involves a far greater loss to British manufacturers. Paris dressmakers and French manufacturers work in cooperation. What is the result? The designers, because they are in league with the manufacturers, design for the use of French materials. The representatives of London firms go to Paris and buy models from the leading Paris houses. The model, if it is to be copied, is useless without the material, and the material also lias to be ordered from Paris. Yet with the possible exception of the rich silk brocades, British manufacturers can provide materials, including printed chiffons, at least as good as the best that France can produce. In tweeds British manufacturers have no rivals. British tweeds are the rage in Berlin and Vienna. But Paris, under the domination of French manufacturers, do their utmost to discourage the wearing of tweed costumes. Happily they have been powerless to resist the growing demand, and some French houses are now specialising in sports models. Never was the moment more favourable for British designers to assert themselves. There are already signs of revolt from the autocracy of Paris. Only recently London refused to accept a fashion which Paris tried to impose, and Paris had to give way. Moreover, owing to the enormous trade which Paris has been doing since the war, French models no longer possess the beautiful finish which formerly was a joy to behold. Mass Production On the contrary, the workmanship bears the evidence of a race against time and is often slovenly. Mass production. too. which is all very well in the manufacture of motor-cars, is out of place in the dressmaking industry. Today Paris models are not only hurriedly 7 put together, but are repeated with wearisome iteration. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but no woman who has paid a big price for a Paris model is flattered by r finding that several of her friends are wearing identical models.