Luxury & Its French Connection

Luxury and France are synonymous with one another. Without France, luxury as we know it today, would not exist. While the word has its origins in Latin, our current ideas of luxury are rooted in the French language and culture. Merriam Webster writes of two similar Latin words — luxus and luxuria —  meaning excess and offensive, respectively. These were then adapted by the French as luxe and luxure, which initially held the same meanings of indulgence being offensive. Over time as European empires expanded and conquered parts of the Eastern world and interacted with places like Greece, the idea luxury began to gain favor. Luxe now came to denote wealth and opulence as opposed to its earlier connotations. Thus emerged the concept of luxury as we understand it today.

While ancient greeks and romans found luxury in the eastern world in the form of spices and silk, today’s ideas of luxury are centered around the western world, especially France. Louis XIV, the ‘Sun King’ himself is to credit for this. Louis XIV wanted to assert that he was no longer a king of the Middle Ages, and was more than a simple warrior king. He wanted his empire to be known as modern, civilised and powerful. Dr. Valerie Steele, in her book about Paris writes, “The theatre of power was very important”. Louis XIV invested heavily in the arts, and especially fashion. His appearance and that of his courtiers was especially curated to “dazzle” visitors and leave an impression. Soon enough, his courtiers and mistresses were setting trends both in France and abroad. In addition to fashion, he also heavily invested in arts. His reign oversaw the making of the Palace of Versailles, an unmatched display of beauty and grandeur. The furniture for this was made exclusively by royal artisans, as were the clothes worn by Louis and his court.

An article on BBC states, “Louis XIV’s sartorial investments were incredibly fruitful, and he came to be viewed as a monarchical paragon.” Everyone wanted to look and act like him. But he wanted to go beyond soft power and establish economic interests. Along with his finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert, he recognised the importance of luxury goods and fashion to the French economy. Colbert also famously said “Fashion will be for France what the gold mines of Peru are for Spain,” a visionary saying that holds true to this day. Together they brought a variety of artistic industries under the royal court, worked to keep international competition out and provided these industries with substantial funding.  For centuries later, the finest fabric and materials would be found in France. Following Louis XIV’s death, many people of his court moved to Paris. This, combined with fashion icons like Marie Antoinette, resulted in Paris developing a reputation for “fashion and sensual pleasure”. The French Revolution may have resulted in this reputation being slightly diminished, but it never completely went away. An article on Quartz magazine concludes, “The lavish furnishings and fashion that Louis XIV required—much of which was supplied by state-supported royal manufacturers—established the French luxury sector as we know it, and with it the idea that the lifestyle of European aristocrats represented the pinnacle of luxury.”

Dr. Steele has cited a description of 18th century Paris — by 1773 Marque de Caraccioli stated that “ to be in Paris without seeing fashion you have to close your eyes. The scenes, streets, shops, carriages, clothing, people, everything presents only that ... and no one dares to show himself, unless he is done up in the new finery.” Thus, as far back as in the 1700s, Paris as we know it had begun to emerge.

For a long time, French fashion operated at a small scale and the couturiers were scattered. Charles Frederick Worth, a British designer settled in Paris and revolutionised French fashion to produce at a large scale by introducing the concept of grande couture — high fashion at a large scale. He also founded the Chambre Syndicale to regulate the industry. He is also responsible for the idea of haute couture, which he developed to distinguish grande couture from ready to wear department store clothing, and which he thought of as art. Following Louis XIV, Paris used couture as soft-power repeatedly, to assert their power in the face of defeat in the Franco-Prussian war and the Paris Commune. Dr. David Gilbert in his essay about Paris writes about how the couture system was “aggressively promoted” in an effort to assert French power internally and abroad. Despite major wars and revolutions, the French Luxury industry continued to hold its own through being used as soft power and became deeply integrated into French culture. The French also insisted that their way of life was “civilised” as opposed to that of the “barbaric” Germans, thus using semantics to promote their culture and consequently, industry and to get people to favor luxury as the epitome of civilisation.

The next few years saw the rise of major cities like New York, “Capital of the 20th Century”. Despite being the economic center of the world post the World Wars, NYC’s sartorial choices were clearly Parisian. The question then arises, Why did NYC not establish its own fashion like London had? And is France’s only connection with luxury in the form of fashion?

Due to the reputation that Parisian fashion had gained, elites from North America would travel to Paris to shop for couture. Even magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar catered to these elites and thus heavily focused on French fashion. Since the uppermost echelons of society dictated trends, NYC also saw French fashion — first originals and then duplicates — rule its streets.

The “Golden Age” of fashion in the 1940’s and 50’s saw the rise of cult favorites like Coco Chanel, Hubert de Givenchy and Christian Dior, closely followed by Balmain and Yves Saint Laurent. Despite continuous competition from London and Tokyo, Paris continued to reign supreme in the luxury sector. Brands like Louis Vuitton also started making luggage. Similar to Louis XIV’s time, France started making all things luxury beyond simply clothing. This included home decor, perfumes, accessories and shoes.

As demonstrated by NYC elites, France had become a destination for fashion. This attracted a lot of wealthy and affluent tourists who wanted to lay their hands on the newest chicest luxury goods. With such tourists came the need for high-end hotels and restaurants. The very idea of restaurants originated in France and so did the first luxury restaurant in 1782. The French had also developed a culinary arts discipline by then. The Revolution led to a closure of most high end restaurants but by 1804, Paris had 500 restaurants. While the falling aristocracy could no longer afford private chefs, there was an upwardly mobile middle class emerging and together this presented a new market opportunity. In came fine dining, to provide those possessing just enough wealth with gourmet food, fine wine, elaborate plating and proper service. This was the second coming of luxury restaurants, slightly more accessible but still exclusive and extravagant. Marie Antoine Carême, the Encyclopedia Britannica writes, is thought to be the pioneer of French gastronomy and grande or haute cuisine. He created grand sculptures out of his food and emphasised the art of plating and using fresh ingredients. In this way, the French pioneered luxury and opulence in another important aspect of life, food.

A third important pillar of luxury — hotels — were also created during Louis XIV’s reign, the Place Vendome was launched which held a multi-use complex of offices, apartments, boutiques and hotels. During the industrial revolution, France saw the launch of Le Grand Hôtel Paris in the 1860s, a hotel of unmatched grandeur even in Europe that was launched in the presence of Empress Eugenie complete with an orchestra. It was made by architect Alfred Armand, to "show the élite of travellers from all over the world the progress made under the Second Empire by the sciences, arts and industry", as stated in an article on hospitality.net. In this manner, from the very beginning, the French went out of their way to display their advancements in art and science.

What differentiated French luxury from that found anywhere else was their understanding of the value of experience. They went beyond manufactured goods and created experiences in the form of elaborate showroom displays, personalised services, complex food. In addition to fashion, food and hotels, they later branched out into luggage, cars, watches, sunglasses and bags.

It is impossible to discuss France without the mention of French Wine. The Atlantic presents archeological evidence of France having started making wine around 425 B.C. They considered wine making to be an art and carefully perfected their vine growing process. French white grapes were in high demand world over. In 1935 post war, France had begun to see a decline in demand for wine, the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) system was established in an effort to regulate and control the quality. Winemaking was (and is) considered a delicate art also because of how tedious the classification process is. For instance, any wine produced outside of the Champagne region cannot be classified as Champagne and the Cabernet Sauvignon grape variety can only be grown in Bordeaux. Most international grape varieties used world over are from France. Like fashion and food, the French also considered wine to be an art, and therefore strived to develop and protect it. Despite international competition, France still leads in winemaking.

The reason for the popularity of French luxury can be traced down to two factors. First, they understand and value art, no matter the form it takes and strive to regulate, fund and protect it. Second, they have perfected the art of marketing this art and making it desirable. French luxury and in many ways modern luxury in general began with an appreciation for fashion and appearance. This is why the history of French luxury is so deeply rooted in French fashion and lifestyle.

France today continues to be a Luxury tourist destination. One visits France for its art, fashion and wineries. A report by Nourhan Fahmy for the Paris School of Business examines why Paris continues to be a popular tourist and brick-and-mortar-shopping destination in today’s age of online shopping. The report finds that customers attach a value to the experience of visiting and shopping physically in Paris. The service they get and the idea of the product being from Paris increases the value of the product for the consumer. Thus France has been able to maintain its status and attract high end customers even today. While other destinations like New York and London might put up strong competition, France has a cultural history and luxurious past that set it apart and make it possible to offer a yet-unmatched experience.

A 2019 Deloitte report finds France to have had the highest share in the sales of the worldwide luxury goods sector for the past few years. Out of the top earning ten companies, three are headquartered in France namely — LVMH Moët Hennessy- Louis Vuitton SE, Kering SA and L’oreal Luxe. The landscape of the market has vastly changed, with luxury no longer being accessible to a very few. It is still exclusive, but mass produced. And to do this, several companies have come together under conglomerates. For instance, LVMH owns Louis Vuitton, Moët Champagne, Dior, Fendi, Givenchy and such. But, as proven by numbers, corporatisation and mass production have not made a dent in the French reputation. The world still believes that they have the finest craftsmanship, and they continue to protect and monitor their quality. France continues to curate experiences for the wealthy, with those for the ultra wealthy being even more exclusive, and continues to prove why luxury belongs to the French.