French couture is one of the most important staples in the fashion industry. Americans and consumers all over the world buy into French fashion because many people view the styles as fancy, classy, and overall desirable. While there is much information that I have been able to gather from doing internet research, surveying consumers, and talking to employees in French couture retail stores, I still have no idea what it is like to be in France buying, wearing, or designing these clothes. However, I got the chance to get answers from someone who has first-hand experience in the French fashion industry. She is from America but furthering her education in France, so she has direct experience with the American fashion industry, too. Her insight is valuable because she knows the impact that each country has on the fashion industry. Without no further delay, please enjoy my Q&A with Ms. Claudia Lee!
https://www.ifmparis.fr/fr/programmes
Can you tell us a little about where you are and what you do?
Hello! I am in Paris and currently pursuing a Master’s degree in International Fashion & Luxury Management at l’Institut Français de la Mode. I’m going specifically for sustainable development in fashion and my courses consist of everything from marketing, fashion history, sustainability (of course), supply chain management, policy sourcing, and French class. The program is taught in English since it is international but I am applying to internships in which I can speak French.
How did learning French motivate you to be a French fashion designer?
Funny story – I studied French because I needed to fulfill a language requirement for the honors program at Rutgers. I studied abroad in Aix-en-Provence French abroad with Rutgers before I could form complete sentences in French. Later on the goal became studying abroad for a semester in Paris. I fell in love with the city and wanted to come back. So I brainstormed the possibilities. Being a creative person, I wanted to do something in which I could use my writing skills and out of the box thinking. Fashion, Paris, creativity, it all made sense. I especially wanted to help change the world in some way, and after taking the course Global Ecological Thinking with Professor Marcone at Rutgers, I was convinced that aligning my passion for women’s issues and sustainability in my favorite city in the world through the creative means of fashion was perfect as a career choice.
How does being in France enhance your design experience? Would you consider the country your muse?
France inspires me in so many ways but for personal reasons. For work, it’s more so business cases, research, numbers, reports. My favorite things about Paris are simple: I love sitting at cafés and writing in my journal about my life here, and maybe sometimes writings poems. I love strolling around and admiring the architecture, passing la Seine on the metro, going to bustling streets at night.
What are your feelings about the prices of French haute couture?
They’re crazy expensive! Buy second hand instead of new! The shopping websites Vestiaire Collective and the Real Real are great. French haute couture is quality but I think there are so many talented designers all around the world, and all it takes is just a good eye to know what to buy and who to buy from. Haute couture is about craftsmanship, but can also be about status. Luxury in its core is supposed to be sustainable in that it’s an investment and it’s supposed to last for generations. We’ve all heard of “it was my mom’s” or “it was my grandma’s” and that’s really the shift we’re moving towards in fashion. Luxury is crafted to last for a long time and nowadays the cheapness of fast fashion has made clothing easily discardable.
In your opinion, what impact does French Fashion have on American culture ?
Gosh! I think my whole aesthetic since high school after reading How to be Parisian Wherever You Are was the minimalist, classic, effortlessly chic French look. Staple pieces, less is more, dainty jewelry, red lipstick. As an American, I idealized the heck out of French culture. It’s true that it’s magic here and the fashion is incomparable, but I’m also living in a city and there are the same struggles we see in any city: homelessness, noise pollution, actual pollution, trash, the irony of living on top of your neighbors but not knowing them. I think American culture looks to France and Europe in general for what is deemed a more “classy,” “refined” taste. It can be true in some ways! But in other ways not, and it’s important to not forget how crucial America is in bringing fashion forward as well.
Conclusion
Claudia’s perspective while in France has been exciting to learn about. She humbly reminds us that although French fashion is beautiful and luxurious, there is more to life than spending huge amounts of money on clothes and accessories. Most importantly, the way she spends her time in France serves as encouragement for us to enjoy the simple things in life. Consumer culture has gotten us so fixated with buying the next trendy item or finding the next party to wear our expensive designer clothes to, but this interview highlights the importance of quite literally just stopping to smell the coffee!