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Like most other European cities, Paris was greatly affected by the Second World War. Scarcity, poverty, fear and many other worries were part of the average Parisian citizen on a daily basis. However, although the history of Parisian fashion is often discussed and well documented, it is rarely talked about how the Parisian fashion industry and the way Parisians dressed on a daily basis was affected by the war. While the city of Paris itself was rather spared from the war compared to other European cities, the fashion industry had to change and adapt to the changing environment while trying to conserve its love for fashion. While conducting my research I found out that there were parallel industrial and design developments, which highlight the unresolvable tension between luxury fashion and the everyday realities of wartime life. I decided to focus on French women because more often than men, it was women who had everyday encounters with the German conquerors. The women would have traveled on the Metro alongside the enemy while the men were fighting on the front lines.This project also shows what happened to the city of Paris during WWII in several aspects: You will learn to what extent certain (haute couture) designers were connected to the Nazis, how Parisian women used fashion to express themselves during these difficult times, and how the Parisian fashion industry recovered once the war was over.

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Chambre des Deputés in Paris, 1941, with German V for victory sign and banner: “Germany Triumphs On All Fronts”  https://www.bloomsburyfashioncentral.com/encycl

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Nazis' interest in the Paris fashion industry

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Nazis' interest in the Paris fashion industry

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Long before the start of the war, Paris haute couture had been designing, making and exporting luxury couture garments globally for generations and the design and taste influences of leading Paris haute couturiers had long dominated the style of the international industries and that of their professional and private clientele, which is part of the reason why the city of Paris and its fashion industry was spared by the Nazis during the war. In 1933, a few years before the start of the war, a German fashion organization called the German National Fashion Institute (Deutsches Modeamt) was founded, which had full Nazi governmental support at ministerial rank. Its purpose was to unite artistic and economic forces to create German fashion products able to compete with the Parisian fashion designs. As the war progressed, the German fashion magazine Die Mode was used as propaganda for the Third Reich to promote nationalism through fashion. The German upper class of that time was very interested in fashion, so the First Ladies of Germany often had their husbands bring couture clothes from Paris. The Nazis even had French war prisoners and Jewish seamstresses create Paris-inspired outfits for the wives of the SS Officers. Therefore, although it is strongly assumed that the Nazis occupying forces in Germany had the opportunity to shut down the whole fashion industry, Paris couture was turned into a trade controlled by the Nazi government. The leader of the Nazis, Adolf Hitler, was drawn to art, history and culture, as were many other Nazi officials. It has been said that Hitler saw Paris as a model for the Berlin he planned to build. The first edition of the aforementioned magazine Die Mode, published in January 1941, stated that “the German victory over France has an incisive meaning for fashion.” The original plan was to move the entire fashion industry to Germany by relocating French ateliers and workers to Berlin and Vienna. While we do not know for certain the main reason this plan did not work, it is speculated that Lucien Lelong, the head of the Chambre syndicale de la haute couture, was able to make the Nazis drop their demands and leave the fashion industry in Paris by arguing that the industry would not survive this drastic relocation.

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Evening jacket, House of Schiaparelli, Paris, Modes et Travaux, December 1941

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Restrictions on (French) Fashion Magazines

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Restrictions on (French) Fashion Magazines

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French Vogue, which the upper class read, and Jardin des Modes, read by the social elite and middle class of Paris, were two of the most significant fashion publications in France during the interwar era. They served as showrooms for the Parisian designers and fashion artists. The French press was taken over by the Germans shortly after their invasion of France, and their control over it became a contentious ideological and economic issue. The German government gained complete control of the media in the Occupied Zone, which included Paris. The Germans were determined to use both the popular spirit and the French press firms in order to control it as part of their overall economic exploitation of the zone and gain enormous financial gain. The Germans released a regulation at the end of May 1940, two weeks after taking over Paris, stopping publishing of all newspapers and ordering that all printed material be subject to the Propaganda-Abteilung, Berlin, which was established on July 18, 1940. Some journals abruptly ceased publication after the Armistice on June 22, 1940; among these, quite a few vanished even before the scandal, including Votre Bonheur and Femina, while others were intermittently published from September 1939 to June 1940 before closing permanently, including Journal de France, French Vogue, and Jardin des Modes. At the same time, publications like Modes et Travaux (see an example in the picture above) and l'Art et la Mode returned to Paris after a short interference, and submitted to German censorship rules. Others, like Marie-Claire and La Femme Chic, fled to the South in order to resume publication in Lyon. Among the magazines the Germans hoped to have published once more were French Vogue and Jardin, but only as part of a press organization under German authority. This shows that fashion became a significant economic and cultural battlefield under the occupation. This was due to the  Germans wanting to keep controlling French output, as well as threatening the French predominance in the fashion industry, which was already being challenged as American fashion became more competitive.

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Effects on the Parisian Fashion Industry 

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Effects on the Parisian Fashion Industry 

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During the war the German authorities reorganized and controlled the French fashion and textile industries, which meant that the couture salons were supposed to serve Nazi business and cultural interests and not French ones. Many leading couturiers were outraged by these inescapable circumstances but they also realized that in order to keep the Parisian fashion industry alive they had to follow these restrictions at least temporarily. As mentioned earlier, the president of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, Lucien Lelong, successfully argued against the German proposal that the fashion industry should move to Berlin. Because of that, the couturiers were able to keep around 97% (12,000)  of their highly specialized staff, trained by generations of craftsmen and women and ultimately save them from the traumatic types of forced labor in Germany. Since production and trade was able to continue while prices were rising, some parts of the fashion business even somewhat improved under occupation. However, there were many Jewish specialists who worked in the Paris couture trade, which all became subject to Nazi anti-Semitic legislation. These artists and businessmen were either forced to close their businesses or directly put on transportation trucks to the death camps. In addition to the suffering of the people, the fashion trade also started to suffer only a few months into the war. France was rapidly denied its basic overseas imports and colonial resources needed for its textile industry, such as the raw cotton and silk imports. There were also supply problems between the four zones that France was divided into, of which Paris was the center of the ‘occupied zone’. Before the war, almost all leather, textiles, ready-to-wear and hat-making were owned or managed by ‘non-Aryans’. Due to many of these workers taken as prisoners of war in Germany, the shortage of skilled labor increased over time, which turned out to have dramatic consequences on France and its fashion industry. A decline in textile production also meant that artificial textiles were used to make clothes and new techniques were sought to make clothes with as little fabric as possible, which I will explain further in the next post.

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While the French fashion industry was mainly affected by decreasing exports and imports and disruptions of production due to labor shortages, the everyday style of les Parisiennes also changed during the war. Most French women struggled to find basic necessities during the time of the Occupation and more than ever did the way of dressing represent the frustrating reality of life. Having restricted access to new clothes or even just textiles for that matter, meant that people needed to be more inventive and creative, because even in times like these, abandoning their commitment to style was not an option for the French. In order to renew and refresh their ensembles, women were compelled to turn to whatever was still available, and this was the skillful use of fashion accessories. As a result, the word "worn out" disappeared from the French language. Full skirts, high heels, and even fur coats were in style during the time in France for those who could afford them. As material was rationed in Paris but not flowers and feathers, women started to use their hats as a fashion statement. On the heads of numerous women, one could see a riot of color and fashion. For average women, buying a new dress became an impractical dream, thus new was produced from old, though those with the resources continued to dress as before through couture houses. Nevertheless, the only way to update an ensemble was to add new accessories, which quickly became necessities for everyone else. Belts, bags, gloves, and, most importantly, hats were the sole ways from that point on to change the same basic day attire, for example, into a formal mid-afternoon outfit. Even though there was a shortage of paper, the publications that continued to publish grew more and more well-known during the War. They frequently offered suggestions on how to modify already-made products, such as plans for dresses made of numerous different materials that were neither inherently attractive nor popular by choice. Following the Reich's requisition of leather and wool, shoemakers began using wood and cork for soles or readily available rabbit fur for winter boots. Struggling fashion businesses made inventive use of a variety of materials, including a brown coat and matching vest created from discarded upholstery, a hat made from wood shavings, and gloves constructed from a mixture of synthetic and dog hair. Not wearing stockings was regarded as highly unladylike in France during the War, however, it was particularly difficult to find silk stockings (aside from those costing 300 francs on the black market, ten times the price of a pre-war pair). Stockings were then replaced by Iodine dye, which was advertised as "the silk on your legs without silk stockings." In order to mimic the seam of a real stocking, some ladies also developed the skill of painting a straight black line up their calves. However, as cycling was necessary and it was imperative for them to not draw attention to themselves, some resistors, particularly women who were working as couriers or delivering flyers, started to wear culottes, which are pants disguised as skirts. The majority of women in France during the war struggled to maintain their elegance while dealing with the enemy's rationing and misery.

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French flag coloured dress (creator unknown) with matching turban, showing resentment and rebellion. https://artsandculture.google.com/story/uAXRclZVvzoxLw

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Parisian Women Using Fashion as Resistance 

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Parisian Women Using Fashion as Resistance 

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However, many others actively tried to fight against the Occupation alongside the French Resistance even though it was very dangerous to do so. Many of these women worked in the couture industry and used it as a way to communicate their resistance. Some women made the decision to utilize fashion and maintaining a fashionable appearance as a weapon of resistance out of concern for the safety of their young children or elderly parents. Nevertheless, for Parisians, maintaining their sense of style during the War was far from simple at a time when resources were rationed and frequently difficult to come by. Dressing as opulently and outrageously as possible became a source of personal and societal pride. After the armistice, French women had no means to demonstrate that they were on the side of morality, unlike British and American women who could do so by donning stylish military uniforms. So the best they could manage was to flaunt stylishly absurd headgear and short skirts with big power sleeves. Magazines began advising women to "remain how they (their menfolk) would like to see you" as soon as the war was proclaimed. The way you appeared when they said farewell, lovely and soignée, is how the guys want to remember you. They maintained that while the Germans may have taken over the government, they could not erase Parisians' feeling of pride and stylish supremacy. Additionally, French designers claimed that by defying the German constraints, their designs also made less fabric available to the enemy.

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André Delfau fashion illustration tear sheet (source not known) for Paris evening wear 1943 https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.showstudio.com

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Many international designers departed Paris within days of the occupation beginning. Schiaparelli left on an American lecture tour while keeping her salon open, Molyneux and Creed went back to their London homes, while Mainbocher and Charles James relocated to New York. Chanel stopped her fashion firm but kept her successful perfume and cosmetics shop open. After lengthy negotiations with Lucien Lelong, Hitler grudgingly agreed that the business could continue to operate in Paris but would now adhere to Nazi rules and that all exports—which were crucial for the Parisian fashion industry's ability to generate income—would end immediately. From that point on, Paris's connections to the outside world were broken, and the rest of the world was no longer informed of the newest fashions. Around 85 houses made up the Parisian couture scene, among them Balenciaga, Bruyère, Jean Dessès, Jacques Fath, Madame Grès, Lanvin, Lelong, Patou, Paquin, Robert Piguet, Nina Ricci, Marcel Rochas, and Worth. The wives and lovers of Nazi officers, as well as other collaborators and wartime profiteers, became their new customers. These women, together with very wealthy French women, had to apply for special dispensation passes in order to place orders. Despite material limitations and constraints (houses were only allowed to employ half the material they did before the war), the clothes created were still extravagant.  As usual, a very small percentage of women,  less than 1%, were able to consume haute couture. In order to take the lead in global fashion in the years following the war, London and New York, both of which had developed luxury fashion designer-led industries in the 1920s and 1930s, created their own distinctive labels and national fashion identities throughout the war.

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Pictures of Coco Chanel over the years             https://historybyday.com/pop-culture/the-fragrance-of-wwii-coco-chanels-sinister-truth/

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While we adore fashion because it is artistic and attractive, it is often neglected that some elements of its history are quite dark. For instance, a few of the most renowned designers of the 20th century had ties to Nazism, often as a result of the historical context. For example, designers in France during the Nazi occupation were required to cooperate with the Nazis or shut their businesses down. While it's natural that some people had the bravery to fight off the Nazi occupation, others went above and beyond to support the regime. Probably every one has heard of the following designers but their participation in the war or rather the way they were able to profit from it is rarely talked about:

Coco Chanel

During the first half of the 20th century, Coco Chanel founded her revolutionary company. Beginning in her early adult years, Chanel made use of connections with acquaintances, friends, and lovers to develop her renowned luxury brand and successful fashion company, which were centered on understated elegance. In addition to her creation of the Chanel No. 5 perfume, Chanel is known for her many other discoveries, such as the use of jersey for daily wear. Chanel's connections to the European high society and cultural elite were crucial to her career and personal development during the Second World War, a time when many members of the upper class began to embrace anti-Semitism. Chanel resided in the Ritz Hotel in Paris, in occupied France, during World War II, where she started dating a senior German intelligence officer. Chanel afterwards went on to work for the Nazis' espionage agency. When the Allies liberated the city, she left Paris and relocated to Switzerland, in voluntary exile, until her return to Paris in the mid 1950s.

Cristobal Balenciaga

Although he was not by any means a supporter of the Nazi regime, Christobal Balenciaga, did profit from the deal Lucien Lelong made with the Nazis, being one of sixty firms that the Germans allowed to function. In 1940, he reopened his fashion house in Paris and prospered greatly because of his contacts with General Franco, a supporter of Hitler. The designer, who was good friends with Franco's wife, created numerous outfits for her both before, during, as well as after the war. Balenciaga actually came out of retirement specifically to design the wedding gown for General Franco's granddaughter.

Hugo Boss

Hugo Ferdinand Boss, the creator of the fashion house Hugo Boss, was a fervent National Socialist who backed the Nazis both out of a desire for money and because they shared his values. At first, the family-run business only made police and postal uniforms. However, one of their initial contracts was giving brown shirts to the original stormtroopers of the Nazi party. Later, Boss supplied the Hitler Youth with black and brown uniforms before finally mass-producing the infamous black SS uniforms. As you can expect, Hugo Boss really benefited from these contracts. In 2011, the company officially apologized for the abuse of 140 Polish and 40 French forced laborers during World War II.

Louis Vuitton
While the Vichy State suppressed other firms and forced them to close their storefronts when the Nazis invaded France in 1940, Louis Vuitton flourished throughout the occupation and war. In fact, they were the only company permitted to have a store on the first floor of the Hotel du Parc, which housed the early 1940s fake government of France. By openly, blatantly, and shamelessly collaborating with the Nazis, the French brand was able to obtain these benefits. Therefore, while the company's competitors either went into hiding or simply out of business, Louis Vuitton survived. The market was theirs to take after the war .

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The conclusion of World War II was declared in 1945, and although France slowly regained its sovereignty, the fashion industry did not instantly transform after World War II. Even as the economy progressively transitioned from a war economy toward a peace economy, clothing rations and fabric restrictions persisted for a while. With time, however, new designs were created and fashion houses were reopened. After World War II, the fashion industry slowly began to grow. Soft shoulders, stiletto heels, wrist-length gloves, and long, billowing skirts were examples of fragile femininity. Even the attire of working women hinted at fragility, with pencil-thin skirts and tiny caps covered with feathers and hemlines were also raised. The fashion industry was revived as a result of the desire of the women of France to feel beautiful once more after years of survival under Nazi tyranny and the aftereffects of the World War. It is during these circumstances that many famous designers started their successful careers, of which Christian Dior might be the most significant.

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Fashion in Post-Liberation Paris, 1944 (4)

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Théâtre de la Mode Dolls displaying the latest fashion from 1940s Paris. https://www.thecuttingclass.com/theatre-de-la-mode/

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The Parisian fashion sector needed to be revived because it was identified with the city before the war. Even though it took two to three years and was not unopposed during the postwar era, the successful re-establishment of the luxury international business of Paris haute couture and its position as the world's foremost fashion house was made possible thanks to the steadfast allegiances of so many of their international professional contacts and private clients throughout the war years. Because the Chambre Syndicale des Fabricants in Lyon, across the border in Vichyist France, and the Chambre Syndical de la Couture Parisienne in Paris decided to keep their businesses and international ties running by any means possible in July 1940, the multinational companies and export networks of Paris haute couture were not disrupted by the Occupation, despite being damaged. Around 13,000 skilled artisans were working in the garment industry at the time, and they worked in such highly specialized workshops that the Nazis were unable to transport it to Germany. France, however, was in dire need of foreign currency, and wealthy women abroad, particularly in the Americas, were willing to spend a fortune for their clothing. Additionally, couture represented the l'art de vivre, which France continued to represent. After Paris was liberated in August 1944, the city's haute couture sector quickly began making efforts to reclaim its pre-war position of global fashion dominance, well aware of its growing competition: Milan, London, and New York. The Théâtre de la Mode was displayed in major cities all over the world in 1945 and 1946, where Paris couture customers and the worldwide press eagerly awaited news. This was its most effective method of self-promotion. French designers and artists came up with a strategy to help Paris regain its status as the world's center for haute couture. To display the first post-war Paris collections, replete with jewelry made to scale by Boucheron, Cartier, and Van Cleef, they hundreds of small figurines, of which you can see some examples in the picture above.

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The "Bar" suit as a representation of the New Look https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/81460

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Christian Dior started his design career in 1935, when he returned to Paris and started selling sketches. He was employed by Robert Piguet in 1938. Dior served in the south of France during World War II before returning to Paris in 1941 to work for Lucien Lelong at a considerably larger design studio. Marcel Boussac, a textile producer, helped him launch his own home in 1946 with a garment line made of cotton, which helped save fashion in France. Christian Dior's debut collection, which included the "New Look," helped establish his status as one of the most significant fashion designers of the 20th century. The "New Look" praised women's fashion's extreme femininity and opulence with rounded shoulders, a tightened waist, and a very full skirt. After years of sartorial limitations, rationing, and military and civilian uniforms, Dior gave not just a fresh appearance but also a fresh perspective. After one year as a French officer, Christian Dior believed that French women required a new appearance. Everything that the war forbade was included in the “New Look”, including femininity and beauty. In addition to being a clear reference to the fashions and body-shapers of the late 19th century, Dior's "New Look" collection was a rejection of the designs popular in the 1920s and 1930s. This new outlook on fashion was introduced in its entirety and without compromise, not as a rough idea or development stage. The “Bar” suit as seen in the picture above, which embodied every aspect of Dior's dramatic atavism, was regarded as the collection's most recognizable model.

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This project clearly demonstrates that, contrary to popular belief, clothing and fashion serve as a reflection of the social, cultural, and political ideals of particular historical periods. The majority of Second World War-related historical writing typically employs the Holocaust, politics, or the military as its key themes. However, it is also useful to analyse these events through the lens of fashion and apparel, to comprehend the distinct cultural, economic and societal impacts that the war had on the (French) people.

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https://www.bloomsburyfashioncentral.com/encyclopedia?docid=b-9781350000308

https://www.showstudio.com/projects/fashion-in-a-time-of-crisis/haute-couture-under-occupation

https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-20448055.html

https://dismantlemag.com/2019/02/10/hats-hitler-turbans-resistance/

https://www.folkwear.com/blogs/news/the-simple-yet-glamourous-dress-of-wwii

https://ww.fashionnetwork.com/news/Wartime-chic-fashion-finds-from-occupied-paris,63201.html

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-clothes-rationing-affected-fashion-in-the-second-world-war

https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/10c384b2-a3e7-4717-b2f0-518b4f1a8397/con

https://refashioninghistory.com/2017/05/21/haute-couture-during-world-war-ii/

https://listverse.com/2017/03/24/10-famous-people-who-profited-from-nazi-rule/

https://www.thecuttingclass.com/theatre-de-la-mode/

https://medium.com/@smruti1219/fashion-after-world-war-ii-3f9435282e0

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/events/how-haute-couture-rescued-war-torn-paris/

https://www.portaildelamode.com/histoire-mode-annees-1940/

https://www.aenigma-images.com/2017/01/1950s-paris-fashion-fantasy/

https://www.historiamag.com/french-fashion-industry-ww2/

https://www.thefashionspot.com/buzz-news/latest-news/401637-tbt-5-famous-fashion-designers-ties-to-the-nazis/