“First Paris Fashions out of the Sky”: The 1962 Telstar Satellite's Impact on the Transatlantic Fashion System

Abstract

On July 23, 1962 Europe and America exchanged the first live transatlantic television transmission using the new Telstar satellite. This transmission was broadcast across three continents, changing the speed of global communication forever. On the following day, July 24, 1962, CBS used the same Telstar satellite to broadcast a live preview of Dior and Balmain haute couture models across America. In so doing, Telstar changed the dynamic of the fashion industry by disrupting the traditional flow of information between its two most powerful centers: Paris and New York. The relationship between Paris and New York, as well as the role of haute couture as the instigator of fashion evolutions, has become a fundamental topic in the study of modern fashion. Within this discourse, one of the most significant periods in the twentieth century is the 1960s when Paris couture seemingly began to slip from its hegemonic position of power. What exactly caused this shift, however, remains unclear. This article will contribute to this discourse by assessing the effect the 1962 broadcast had on the transatlantic couture system. To do this, the following study will examine a shift in the visual nature of couture reports that appeared in The New York Times and The New York Herald Tribune from 1957 through 1964. In so doing, this study sheds new light on the significance of the Telstar broadcast as well as the fashion segments in these daily newspapers within the history of twentieth-century fashion.