Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies

(Under graduate)
Topic: FASHION INDUSTRY IN FRANCE AND INDIA.
Semester 2

Rutuja Kharat

Macro Economics

1037

Prof. Ishita Ma'am

FY-A

INDEX

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................3
OVERVIEW.....................................................................................................................4
DATA COLLECTED.......................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................9
BIBLIOGRAPHY..............................................................................................................10
PICTURE GALLERY.......................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION.

Fashion is a general term for a popular style or practice, especially in clothing, footwear, accessories or
makeup. Fashion refers to a distinctive and often habitual trend in the style with which a person dresses, as well as to
prevailing styles in behaviour. Fashion also refers to the newest creations of textile designers. The more technical
term, costume, has become so linked to the term "fashion" that the use of the former has been relegated to special
senses like fancy dress or masquerade wear, while "fashion" means clothing more generally and the study of it.
Although aspects of fashion can be feminine or masculine, some trends are asexual.
In recent years, Asian fashion has become increasingly significant in local and global markets. Countries
such as China, Japan, India, and Pakistan have traditionally had large textile industries, which have often been drawn
upon by Western designers, but now Asian clothing styles are also gaining influence based on their own ideas.
The fashion industry is a product of the modern age. Prior to the mid-19th century, most clothing
was custom made. It was handmade for individuals, either as home production or on order from dressmakers and
tailors. By the beginning of the 20th centurywith the rise of new technologies such as the sewing machine, the rise
of global capitalism and the development of the factory system of production, and the proliferation of retail outlets
such as department storesclothing had increasingly come to be mass-produced in standard sizes and sold at fixed
prices. Although the fashion industry developed first in Europe and America, today it is an international and highly
globalized industry, with clothing often designed in one country, manufactured in another, and sold world-wide. For
example, an American fashion company might source fabric in China and have the clothes manufactured in Vietnam,
finished in Italy, and shipped to a warehouse in the United States for distribution to retail outlets internationally.
The fashion industry consists of four levels: the production of raw materials, principally fibres and textiles
but also leather and fur; the production of fashion goods by designers, manufacturers, contractors, and others; retail
sales; and various forms of advertising and promotion. These levels consist of many separate but interdependent
sectors, all of which are devoted to the goal of satisfying consumer demand for apparel under conditions that enable
participants in the industry to operate at a profit.

OVERVIEW.

In this project I will compare the Indian and French Fashion Industry. Since the early 21st century there
has been a sudden bloom in the fashion and ready to wear apparel industry. This has played a great role in the
economy of both the countries. Fashion in the first decade of the 21st Century did not take one clear direction but
borrowed from past decades like the '80s and '90s, valued comfort and took inspiration from music and celebrities.
Accessories became sought-after fashion items and status symbols, such as the Hermes-designed Birkin bag with a
price tag of up to $150,000 and a long A-list celebrity waiting list. Form-hugging skinny jeans became a wardrobe
staple and a foam clog called Crocs made a brief but significant impact on summer footwear.
This project will mainly talk about the already established French Fashion Industry and the upcoming
Indian Fashion Industry.
Fashion has been an important industry and cultural export of France since the seventeenth century, and
modern "haute couture" originated in Paris in the 1860s. Today, Paris, along with London, Milan, and New York
City, is considered one of the world's fashion capitals, and the city is home or headquarters to many of the premier
fashion houses, including Balenciaga, Cline, Chanel, Chloe, Dior, Givenchy, Jean-Paul
Gaultier,Herms, Lanvin, Rochas, Vuitton and Yves Saint Laurent.
Fashion Industry in India is in nascent stage at the moment and has great potential to make its mark on the
world stage. Indian fashion has thousands of years of tradition behind it. India has a rich and varied textile heritage.
Each region of India has its own unique native costume and traditional attire. Fashion Industry in India is growing at a
rapid pace with international events such as the India Fashion Week gaining popularity and annual shows by fashion
designers being held in the major cities of India.

Indian fashion industry got a big boost by the victories of a number of Indian beauty queens in International events
such as the Miss World and Miss Universe. Contests such as these made Indian models recognized worldwide. Indian
fashion designers such as Ritu Kumar, Ritu Beri, Rohit Bal, Rina Dhaka, Tarun Tahiliani, JJ Valaya and Manish
Malhotra have also made their mark in the global fashion arena.
As we can see, the French Industry is much more established than the Indian Industry. Fashion has
become an important topic, socially as well as economically, since the mid 19th century only.

DATA COLLECTED.

FRENCH FASHION INDUSTRY.

Seventeenth - Eighteenth century:
The association of France with fashion and style (French: la mode) dates largely to the reign
of Louis XIV when the luxury goods industries in France came increasingly under royal
control and the French royal court became, arguably, the arbiter of taste and style in Europe.
The rise in prominence of French fashion was linked to the creation of the fashion press in
the early 1670s (due in large part to Jean Donneau de Vis) which transformed the fashion
industry by marketing designs to a broad public outside the French court and by popularizing
notions such as the fashion "season" and changing styles.
Belle poque
France renewed its dominance of the high fashion (French: couture or haute couture) industry
in the years 1860-1960 through the establishing of the great couturier houses, the fashion
press (Vogue was founded in 1892) and fashion shows. The first modern Parisian couturier
house is generally considered the work of the Englishman Charles Frederick Worth who
dominated the industry from 1858-1895.[10] In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century,
the industry expanded through such Parisian fashion houses as the house of Jacques
Doucet (founded in 1871), Rouff (founded 1884), Jeanne Paquin (founded in 1891; she
trained at Rouff and was the first woman to open her own fashion house), the Callot
Soeurs (founded 1895 and operated by four sisters),Paul Poiret (founded in 1903), Madeleine
Chruit (founded 1906), Madeleine Vionnet (founded in 1912), Chanel (founded by Coco
Chanel, it first came to prominence in 1925), Elsa Schiaparelli(founded in 1927)
and Balenciaga (founded by the Spaniard Cristobal Balenciaga in 1937).

World War II:

Many fashion houses closed during occupation of Paris during World War II, including
the Maison Vionnet and the Maison Chanel. In contrast to the stylish, liberated Parisienne,
the Vichy regimepromoted the model of the wife and mother, the robust, athletic young
woman, a figure who was much more in line with the new political criteria. Germany,
meanwhile, was taking possession of over half of what France produced, including high
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fashion, and was also considering relocating French haute couture to the cities
of Berlin and Vienna, neither of which had any significant tradition of fashion. The archives
of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture were seized, most consequentially the client
list. Jews were excluded from the fashion industry. In spite of the fact that so many fashion
houses closed down or moved away during the war, several new houses remained open,
including Jacques Fath, Maggy Rouff, Marcel Rochas, Jeanne Lafaurie, Nina Ricci, and
Madeleine Vramant.
Post-War
Post-war fashion returned to prominence through Christian Dior's famous "New Look" in
1947: the collection contained dresses with tiny waists, majestic busts, and full skirts swelling
out beneath small bodices, in a manner very similar to the style of the Belle poque. The
extravagant use of fabric and the feminine elegance of the designs appealed greatly to a postwar clientele. Other important houses of the period included Pierre Balmainand Hubert de
Givenchy (opened in 1952). The fashion magazine Elle was founded in 1945. In 1952, Coco
Chanel herself returned to Paris.

FASHION WEEKS.
The Paris Fashion Week takes place twice a year after the Milan Fashion Week. It is the last and generally
the most anticipated city of fashion month. Dates are determined by the French Fashion Federation. Currently, the
Fashion Week is held in the Carrousel du Louvre.
PARIS.
Since the seventeenth century, the headquarters for fashion houses have been traditionally situated in the
quarter around the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honor. Since the 1980s, the Avenue Montaigne has, to some extent,
overtaken the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honor in high fashion as well as accessories. Other areas, such as Le Marais, a
traditional Jewish quarter, have also included the clothing industry.

INDIAN FASHION INDUSTRY

India has a rich and varied textile heritage, where each region of India has its own unique
native costume and traditional attire. While traditional clothes are still worn in most of rural
India, urban India is changing rapidly, with international fashion trends reflected by the
young and glamorous, in the cosmopolitan metros of India. Fashion in India is a vibrant
scene, a nascent industry and a colourful and glamorous world where designers and models
start new trends every day.
While previously a master weaver was recognized for his skill, today a fashion designer is
celebrated for his or her creativity. Young urban Indians can choose from the best of East and
West as Indian fashion designers are inspired by both Indian and western styles. This fusion
of fashion can be seen on the streets and ramps of the fashionable cities of India. Fashion in
India is also beginning to make its mark on the international scene as accessories such as
bindis (red dots worn on the forehead), mehendi (designs made by applying henna to the
palms of the hands and other parts of the body) and bangles, have gained international
popularity, after being worn by fashion icons like the pop singers Madonna and Gwen
Stephani.
Fashion in India has become a growing industry with international events such as the India
Fashion Week and annual shows by fashion designers in the major cities of India. The
victories of a number of Indian beauty queens in International events such as the Miss World
and Miss Universe contests have also made Indian models recognized worldwide. Fashion
designers such as Ritu Kumar, Ritu Beri, Rohit Bal, Rina Dhaka, Muzaffar Ali, Satya Paul,
Abraham and Thakore, Tarun Tahiliani, JJ Valaya and Manish Malhotra are some of the well
known fashion designers in India.
Fashion in India covers a whole range of clothing from ornate clothes designed for wedding
ceremonies to prt lines, sports-wear and casual wear. Traditional Indian techniques of
embroidery such as chikhan, crewel and zardosi, and traditional weaves and fabrics have
been used by Indian designers to create Indo-western clothing in a fusion of the best of East
and West.
Apart from the rich tradition the strength of the Indian fashion industry also rests on strong
raw material availability. India is the third largest producer of cotton, the second largest
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producer of silk and the fifth largest producer of man-made fibres in the world. India also
possesses large number of skilled human resources and has among the lowest labour costs in
the world.
With the end of quota regime on January 1, 2005 the prospects for Indian fashion industry
look upbeat. India is among the largest exporters of textile garments and fabrics. The quota
regime restricted free export of materials and garments from the developing countries, giving
an edge to developed ones. The regime resulted in unfair trade practices, such as hoarding of
licenses for quotas and their eventual sale in the black market, and the shipping of low quality
goods to meet contract demands. There was little incentive for the manufacturers to upgrade
and improve either their products or manufacturing abilities. The end of the quota regime
heralds the prospects of exponential growth for the fashion industries of countries like India
that had faced quota restrictions earlier.

CONCLUSION

Indian fashion industry needs to take following steps to fulfil its growth potential:

Indian fashion industry needs to create global image. There are various agencies that can assist in
the brand building exercise. The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), other textile
promotion councils, and industry associations such as Confederation of Indian Industries can
market Indian fashion globally.

Large textiles players must develop linkages with small medium enterprise (SME) clusters. Such
networks would be a win-win for textile players that can concentrate on demand creation and
branding as well as for clusters that can focus on quality production.

Indian fashion industry has to forge designer-corporate links as is the norm in global fashion
industry.

There is a large part of the novice designer community, possibly more talented, which remains
obscure. Hence there is an urgent need to give exposure to young and budding designers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

www.indiaprofile.com
www.iloveindia.com
www.wikipedia.org

10

PICTURE GALLERY
FRENCH FASHION

11

INDIAN FASHION

12