Paris – Fashion Capital

by: Jackie Soto

I decided to revolve my feature story around fashion in Paris. I specifically wanted to concentrate on how the economy in France has had an impact on the fashion designers and the consumers as well. I was able to get a wonderful interview with a fashion journalist and producer of fashionfile.com, Madeleine Czigler. I got many quotes, great advice and information on the latest trends from her.

French fashion sets the trend with icons such as Chanel, Christian Dior, Hermes, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent, and many more. Nearly all French fashion icons have their main store on Rue Due Faubourg Saint-Honore, near Champs-Elysees Avenue. I had a wonderful experience walking around these streets with high-end fashion boutiques, and in particular down Champs-Elysees. I got to experience and see with my own eyes how big and inspirational Paris fashion is.

I walked into Louis Vuitton and saw hundreds of people shopping in the four-story high store, as if there was a huge sale. Surely enough, Louis Vuitton never has sales, and neither do any of the other high-end designers like Dior, Chanel, Fendi, Yves St. Laurent, etc. As I walked around the city streets, I noticed huge signs hanging outside the windows of fashion boutiques, and designer stores that read “SOLDES” which means “SALE” in French. This time of year is the best time to shop in Paris. All the stores and, boutiques around the city have a huge sale starting from 50 to 60 percent off all merchandise.

According to Madeleine Czigler, she noticed around Christmas time that the bad economy was having an impact in the fashion industry as well. She never saw sales occur before Christmas, and this year the majority of the stores had sales starting at 30 percent off during Christmas shopping season for the first time. The big shopping centers in and around Paris have many French fashion shops with affordable prices.