Paris has been known as the international capital of fashion and art for hundreds of years. This status of Paris developed rapidly in the 17th century under Louis XIV. It was produced by the Palace of Versailles, followed by the princes and nobles of Paris, then spread to the whole of France, then spread to all over Europe, and then radiated to the world. So how did this proliferation of fashion elements come about?
The king acts as a fashion icon
King Louis XIV of France reigned for seventy-two years. It was during his reign that France became the centre of European fashion culture. Louis XIV was handsome, fit, fond of art, and practiced to lead the fashion, which brought great prosperity and development to French culture.
As king, Louis XIV would often bring the royal family to personally model for the media, in fact, he deliberately created a fashion model. As the king of France, he paid great attention to dressing himself and carried out elaborate image packaging. In the court performance, he wore gold, wearing a mask of the sun, dancing in the incarnation of the sun god Apollo, the court men and women were overwhelmed, so he chose the "Sun King" official coat of arms, engraved with the Latin inscription "above all", meaning that he is like the sun shining to nourish the world. He liked to wear high-heeled shoes with red soles because red dye was so expensive that the shoes became a fashion and status symbol. He liked to wear wigs, personal three thousand wigs, according to the clothing matching wig style and color, soon wigs became popular in Europe.
Strongly support the arts
Louis XIV gave generous grants to artists and writers, especially those who produced works for his palace at Versailles. The three pillars of French classical drama, Corneille, Moliere and Racine, all received royal annuities or allowances. He incorporated art and science into the state administration system and established various royal academies, including the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, the Archery Academy, the Paris Opera, and the Conservatoire, where experts taught art, literature, music, dance, and scientific knowledge.
After Louis XIV moved to the Palace of Versailles, he gave the Louvre, where he previously lived, to the French Academy for meetings and offices, and the Academy of Inscriptions, the Academy of Architecture, and the Academy of Sciences later moved to the past, promoting the development of science and technology in France. At the same time, because Louis XIV loved Renaissance art, he set up the "Rome Scholarship", which selected top students to study painting, sculpture, architecture and other arts in Rome every year.
The vigorous development of social and cultural communication institutions
Neither the king nor his official academy could effectively spread fashion and popular elements to the people and other countries. But there is no need to worry. In modern history, the lines of communication between the upper and lower classes have opened up, and unofficial fashion and art promotion agencies have emerged and played an active role where the authorities could not reach them.
In the second half of the 17th century, the Salon grew rapidly, becoming an unofficial meeting place for the Parisian aristocracy, wealthy professionals, and creative writers and artists. The women of the upper class, who loved to invite these people to their homes, organized them to discuss philosophy, literature and art, and became an enduring and distinctive folk institution in French social life. These salons also welcomed prominent foreign visitors, thus serving as a medium for French culture and social mores to be spread far and wide across Europe.
In order to promote the new fashion initiated by the Palace of Versailles and advocated by the art Salon, the world's first fashion magazine "Elegant Messenger" appeared in Lyon, France, in 1672. The magazine, which is distributed to European countries, publishes the latest styles and fashion trends every quarter, and reports on the news of the French court, which is an important communication channel to promote the French luxury and etiquette system.
The strength of national power makes fashion art popular in Europe
The economic base determines the superstructure, and the diffusion of culture is always from relatively advanced areas to other areas. The reason why French fashion art can sweep Europe is inseparable from the strong national power of France in the 17th and 18th centuries.
In 1700, France had 19 million inhabitants, the largest population in Europe, more than three times that of Britain and twice that of Spain. In Western Europe, France was large and fertile, which was a great advantage in the agricultural age, and on the other hand some social contradictions arose locally, and there were fewer national disturbances in France as a whole. In terms of economic policy, mercantilist policies were carried out at that time, the Commercial Law was promulgated, and the production of silk weaving, tapestry, wool and glassware was vigorously developed, and roads and canals were built to improve traffic and trade. In short, the economy was more developed than other European countries during the same period. It is precisely because the country is rich and powerful, and the culture is thriving, so that the French culture at that time can quickly spread to other European countries as a winner.
In fact, fashion itself is closely related to the economy. As a result of leading the fashion development, the production of some related items was developed. For example, lace was a very important fashion factor at that time, in order to prevent the outflow of domestic monetary reserves caused by the purchase of high-priced imported lace, Louis XIV ordered the excellent Italian lace artisans to be brought to France, which directly contributed to the end of the 17th century, French lace won the top in Europe.
Fashion products have also spawned industrial development. Louis XIV believed that things produced in France should be worthy of the name of high-end luxury goods, so as to cherish their own image as much attention to "made in France", requiring that it must be top quality. There are more than 200 textile industry standards for the control of product quality, and the production of shoddy products will be punished by roaming the streets.
The dedication to craftsmanship and the relentless development of rival industries have created a deep tradition of handmade luxury goods in France, and today Paris is still the fashion capital of the world.
