Article published in Cosmopolitain - March 8, 2024
Where are the women in fashion?
At the helm of luxury brands, many men dictate tomorrow's trends. Women, much less so. Negotiation, sexism, favoritism... We investigate behind the scenes at major brands.
What if we started by rewinding the thread of history? Until the 1920s and 1930s, female fashion designers were very powerful. "At that time, women largely participated in the emergence of fashion houses" (...) Jeanne Lanvin, Gabrielle Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, they created the first houses and made fashion evolve with clothes that liberated women's bodies. (...)! "Today, they are not totally absent," the expert reminds us. Miuccia Prada, Donatella Versace, Virginie Viard at Chanel and Isabel Marant are at the head of very successful houses. The problem is that fewer and fewer of them are appointed to management positions."
When women reinvent fashion “If we take a step back and move away from the luxury world, we notice that women are present in key positions in fashion,” observes Thomas Zylberman. “More and more of them are creating successful brands! I’m thinking of Sézane, Rouje, Make My Lemonade… They have taken hold of a fashion that fits their needs, their desires, their different social roles. They achieve this feat of being totally in tune with society’s expectations, something that luxury doesn’t necessarily manage to do.” As artistic director of the Lafrancaise_mailles brand, Christine Phung concedes: “I’m very happy to be in this position because we don’t make decorative clothes but functional, elegant, stylish ones… It’s a brand made by women for women, and it shows.” » Morgane Sezalory, the founder of Sezane with 3.6 million followers on Instagram, echoes the same sentiment: “Sezane speaks to all women (...) There is a real niche for those who want to create brands with a “voice”. Sézane and its many heirs are very personified by their creators, with a strong personal storytelling.”(...)
