FASHION FOR ALL?

Abstract

The goal of this article is to examine the role of the media in the international fashion business between the wars. New York switched from a position of first importer of French fashions, to a contender of Paris hegemony. But despite a dramatic raise in tariffs and dwindling fashion exports, Paris managed to remain the main originator of women's fashions until the Second World War. In studying this situation, I will first examine the mechanisms of the diffusion of design innovation and set out the international fashion press networks of the interwar period. I will then examine the complex relationship that developed between fashion designers and the media, with a focus on the press, showing how during the 1920s the couturiers imposed an increasing number of restrictions to the shows' spectators, to photographers, and to the press, due to a growing concern for industrial espionage. Finally, I will examine specific cases of relationships of couturiers with the press, including the advertisement of tie-in products, the endorsement of couture by French and American celebrities, and the first attempts at professionalized public relations strategies in the fashion business.