The Battle of Versailles
- Larissa Bernardo
- Jul 1, 2019
- 3 min read
No, this is not a blog about French history (but I would love to write about it, maybe one day).
The Battle of Versailles wasn't a Napoleonic battle as you may think, it was a fashion event that changed the industry forever.
November 28, 1973. This is the day the European (and especially, the French) royalty realised they were not the ones to dictate what fashion is. In the night of November 28 the high class got together to watch a true fashion spectacle created by fashion designers from France and the United States.
It all began in an informal conversation between Gérald Van der Kemp, the head curator of the Palace of Versailles and Eleanor Lambert, the american fashion goddess and founder of the New York Fashion Week. Gérald was telling Eleanor they needed money to restore the palace and was looking for donors so she suggested they should organise an event to raise money for the palace. Eleanor and Gérald invited 10 fashion designers - five French and five American - to develop an exclusive collection and performance to entertain the guests. The fashion designers they chose were nothing less then: Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin, Emanuel Ungaro, Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy, Oscar de la Renta, Anne Klein, Stephen Burrows, Halston, and Bill Blass.
Eleanor's intention was clear: she wanted to prove that not only the French could do haute couture, but that Americans could do it as well. Until the 70's most of respected fashion designers were mainly from France and the UK, and it was only because what they (Europeans) consider fashion started in those countries, so it was almost like they were saying 'we are the cradle of high fashion and this is where it belongs'. The 'battle' itself was France against the U.S. but I see it more like Europe against the world. The French designers simply did not respect American designers at all as they actually thought they were superior just because they were French. Yep, that's true.
When the American designers arrived in Paris, they didn't have the same amount of time as the French designers had to rehearse and they were treated pretty badly. The French invited Josephine Baker to perform while the Americans invited Liza Minelli to perform with them in a very simple show that would be composed only by singing and dancing.
The exclusive guest list had the most influential people in the world including Princess Grace of Monaco, Andy Warhol and Elizabeth Taylor and even thought the event was one of the most important of the year it unfortunately didn't have enough press coverage from inside. Most of the photos available are from outside the show where we can see the guests.
The first show of the night was the French one, With a total of 2.5 hours it counted with a gypsy caravan, a rocket and a full-length limousine amongst other extravagancies. The American show had 37 minutes and counted with Liza Minelli, models, and that was it.
At the end of the night, the unexpected happened: people absolutely loved the American show. They were very excited by the simplicity of the show and with the quality of the looks. The French designers saw that the Americans could actually do high fashion very easily and that maybe they (the French] were being too conservative and antiquate.
That night was historical for many reasons: The French (and I would say European) 'superiority' was over which opened the way to non-European designers show their work; The U.S brought 12 black women to be part of the show which wasn't common in 1973, showing the world that other ethnicities should be represented and not only the boring caucasian European; a classy show isn't made of big scenarios and luxury but talent and simplicity instead; and finally the main reason for all of it: they raised $280,000 to restore the palace.
There are several documentaries and books about this incredible night so you have plenty of resources if you're interested and want to know more.
Au revoir !
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