Chanel, Dior, Saint Laurent, Hermès, Louis Vuitton … The list is exhaustive and continues to grow. French designers have created some of the most renowned and coveted brands in the world. With innovative styling and remarkable technique, the reputation of the French fashion industry dates back to at least the 17th century, and its prestige has only grown since then.

But did you know that jeans were created in France? As well as bikinis? 

Learn more through these 20 interesting facts about fashion in France! 👗

 

The Best French Fashion Facts

Fashion is very important in France. It is popular, and there are lots of facts that you probably don’t know about it.

That is exactly why I made a list of the best fashion in France facts: enjoy!

 

1. You can enjoy a fashion tour while you’re in Paris, France

If you want to summarize French fashion as quickly as possible while learning as much as you can, you should definitely look for a luxury fashion tour. Escorted by a Parisian stylist, you will learn everything you want in the span of a single afternoon.

The tours usually run from Place Colette (near the famous Louvre museum) to Rue Saint-Honoré. You will visit Palais Royal and hear about the most famous stylists of all time.

 

1 - fashion in france facts palais royal

Palais Royal in Paris, France

2. Handbags are one of the most important part of French women fashion

For French women, handbags are definitely a centerpiece for fashion. They represent their elegance the most obvious way, and women carry one in all circumstances. Ever wondered why there is so much competition in French handbag brands? That is because women buy as much as one handbag per year!

The most famous handbag brands in France are Longchamp and Louis Vuitton. On top of that, La Petite Mendigote, Jérôme Dreyfuss and Nat Et Ninn are also very important.

 

2 - french fashion facts about bags

 

3. Women are generally the ones who like fashion the most in France

In France, fashion is all about women. Men also have their own, but there is far less variety and it is in general less known.

French women, while they love fashion, do not like short-lived fads. They are instead obsessed over cut: ideally, if they could get a classic, well-cut and timeless look, they would definitely go for that anytime. French tailors have, over the centuries, mastered slim clothing, and women’s curves are accentuated in the slightest details by perfect measure.

 

4. French women do not want to be excessively sexy

French women always want to look feminine, but not too sexy nor with excessive extras. Because of how much time they spend focusing on the smallest of details, their whole look feels simply seamless, and sophisticated.

Generally speaking, women have less clothing but of better quality, and they never dress down, even if it is for simply going to the grocery store or the closest bakery. The best word to describe their goal is probably always looking “fresh”.

 

5. You can find the most reputed fashion brands in the world in France

While all of them are obviously not French, you can see a ton of the best fashion brands on the planet in France, especially in Paris, the capital for almost everything.

All of Chanel, Hermès, Saint Laurent, Dior and Louis Vuitton are based in Paris. This means that their main French store is there, usually on the famous Champs-Élysées, alongside all the fanciest shops, from car stores to fine bakeries and even grocery stores.

 

5 - facts about french fashion and shops

Louis Vuitton store in the Champs Elysées, Paris

6. Hats used to be absolutely essential in France

A relatively long time ago, up until World War II, every single man and woman was wearing a hat. During the 60s, hats completely disappeared and became outdated very quickly. While some people regret this because of how stylish lots of hats can be, they are nowadays becoming more and more popular.

Mademoiselle Chapeaux, founded in 2011, is an important part of that: their hats are typically French and quite affordable, so if you find one of their stores, remember to take home a beautiful souvenir!

 

7. There are lots of department stores everywhere in France

Department stores are extremely fancy shopping venues that you can find in most large cities in France. They are loved by the French people because of how centrally they are located, on top of having a very large choice of top brands, quickly available and of amazing quality.

The most famous of them are Printemps, Galeries Lafayette, Le Bon Marché and BHV. As always, you can find the biggest of them in Paris, but they are also all around the country.

 

 

8. There is a very important fashion event in France: the Paris Fashion Week

You have surely heard of Paris Fashion Week at least once. This event is known worldwide and gathers the most famous professionals from all around the globe. Specific shows are dedicated to the important brands like Dior, Chanel or Louis Vuitton.

There are 4 global fashion weeks, often nicknamed “The Big 4”, in the world. Alongside Paris, London, Milan and New York are what we can wall the fashion capitals of the world.

 

9. There is a French Fashion Federation

You know this by now, but fashion is taken very seriously in France. In fact, it is so serious that they created a Fashion Federation in 1973, that governs the French fashion industry, and decides the dates for the Paris Fashion Week among many other things.

This Federation is actually very important, as its whole name is French Federation of Fashion and of Ready-to-Wear Couturiers and Fashion Designers: everyone working in fashion, big and small, is ruled by the Federation.

 

10. Louis XIV had an important role for French fashion development

Whether you believe it or not, King of France Louis XIV and his red heeled shoes were the first reason why French style is so important nowadays. Louis XIV is arguably the most important King of France of all times: he was considered a God, and was nicknamed “Le Roi Soleil” (the Sun King).

He played a central role in the development of the country’s style industry, which rapidly grew to become big and powerful.

 

10 - french fashion facts for kids about louis xiv

 

11. In French fashion, there are three main types of clothing

French fashion is strictly organized into three styles: haute couture, prêt-à-porter and lingerie.

Haute couture is basically made of the most famous and fancy fashion brands, and is what you see during Fashion Weeks. This type of clothing is high-end and tailor-made. Lingerie is very delicate and is usually made of lace, silk or any other fine material. Finally, prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear) is the mass-production that most people wear daily. It was popularized by Yves Saint Laurent in 1966.

 

12. French fashion is extremely influential

In Paris, you can find one of the largest textile industries in the whole world, which is working with lots of design houses and other manufacturing facilities. This means that French designers can experiment a ton, starting new trends and influencing future generations, because yes: French fashion is very, very influential worldwide.

For instance, French designer Pierre Cardin dedicated his career to designing futuristic looks. His 1966 “Space Age” was made of geometric shapes as dresses.

 

That’s it for the best 12 interesting facts about French fashion…. Wait, did I say 12? Yes, because there are 8 more of them, coming right up.

 

More French Fashion Facts

I just love French fashion so much, and it is so interesting that I just cannot stop after only 12 facts.

Here, have 8 more of them.

 

13. Denim jeans were created in France

You might not know that and actually be surprised, but Denim jeans come from France. The name was actually diminished from “De Nîmes”, which means “From Nîmes”. Nîmes is a city in southern France and is home to the creation of the famous jeans. It is very beautiful in case you want to visit it!

Later, Denim jeans became so popular that they were imported to the United States, in California first, by Levi Strauss for gold miners.

 

13 - french fashion facts about jeans

 

14. Bikinis also originated from France

French designers Jacques Heim and Louis Réard created a two-piece swimsuit, now known as the bikini, in 1946. It was first sold in a beach shop in the southern city of Cannes, France.

Bikinis began to rise in popularity very quickly with glamor shots of popular actresses, like Mimi Kok, Dalida and Graciela Alfano. In her times, Brigitte Bardot was considered to be very daring and wore thin bikinis on every beach of southern France.

 

15. France’s clothing industry is the fourth one in Europe

Domestic textiles and clothing consumption are worth 26 billion euros in France, which means the country is ranked fourth in Europe. Probably not as impressive as you would have thought, but remember that France is more known for its haute couture than it is for mass production.

This sector in Europe is very important, as it is employing around 1.7 million people. More than 30 percent of the world market comes from EU exports.

 

16. Everyone has a fashion industry, but the French one stands out

There are lots of major countries that have their very own fashion industry, and regularly produce amazing designs, but none of them are even close to French fashion. For instance, Belgium, Portugal, Brazil, Spain, India, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia and Poland are good fashion designers.

Only four countries other than France have a huge international reputation in terms of fashion: the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan and Italy.

 

17. There are lots of fashion museums and exhibitions in France

If you are visiting Paris, you should visit “Les Arts Décoratifs”. It is literally the world’s largest fashion and textile exhibition space, with around two exhibitions per year. There, you can see the best names of fashion, like Christian Lacroix, Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent.

Also, the Palais Galliera is the official fashion museum of the French capital. It was officially established in 1977 and you can visit this permanent museum any time of the year.

 

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Palais Galliera

18. There is even a type of fashion dedicated to kids in France

No one can escape fashion in France, even kids. While not many of them are dressed in a sophisticated manner, obviously, there are still several important French brands for kids like Jacadi and Bonpoint.

Their overall style is very chic but remains cute at the same time. As always, these clothes are top quality; they feature lots of embroideries. What most people love about these brands is probably the nostalgia they have for childhood garments.

 

19. French bow ties are very fashionable

Bow ties story is actually quite comparable to the one of hats. In France, they used to be very popular in the past, before suddenly disappearing from the country’s fashion landscape, and finally coming back in recent times.

While most fashion items are dedicated to women, bow ties are definitely what stands out nowadays for men. Their French name is the “noeud papillon” (butterfly knot), and they are very cute and affordable.

 

19 - bow tie

 

20. French fashion was outdated even faster than it is now

You might think of French fashion as a very short-lived period nowadays, but it was even worse in the past. If it seems hard for you to keep up with the trends, just think about the late 1700s, when fashion magazines were published… every 10 days, revolutionizing fashion every two weeks!

The famous “planned obsolescence” described by Chrisman-Campbell was even worse before, as any new piece of clothing was almost immediately outdated.

 

So there you have them, these were all my 20 interesting France fashion facts. I hope you enjoyed them and that you learned something new today.

In case you want to learn more about the rest of the country, feel free to keep reading, as I still have lots of things to tell you about. 

 

More Facts!

Want to learn more facts about France?

Well, I have other France facts posts I’m sure you’ll love reading!

Here is the main guide of the best France facts 👉 The 60 Best Facts about France

Check out these France facts by city:

Or these French facts by region:

You can also check these French facts by topic: 

Or click here to see ALL the facts up on the blog! Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of them.

 

The Full List of 20 French Fashion Facts

  1. You can enjoy a fashion tour while you’re in Paris, France
  2. Handbags are one of the most important part of French women fashion
  3. Women are generally the ones who like fashion the most in France
  4. French women do not want to be excessively sexy
  5. You can find the most reputed fashion brands in the world in France
  6. Hats used to be absolutely essential in France
  7. There are lots of department stores everywhere in France
  8. There is a very important fashion event in France: the Paris Fashion Week
  9. There is a French Fashion Federation
  10. Louis XIV had an important role for French fashion development
  11. In French fashion, there are three main types of clothing
  12. French fashion is extremely influential
  13. Denim jeans were created in France
  14. Bikinis also originated from France
  15. France’s clothing industry is the fourth one in Europe
  16. Everyone has a fashion industry, but the French one stands out
  17. There are lots of fashion museums and exhibitions in France
  18. There is even a type of fashion dedicated to kids in France
  19. French bow ties are very fashionable
  20. French fashion was outdated even faster than it is now

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