The beginning of the modern fashion system

“Rien n’est si inconstant que la mode”, said Donneau de Visé, the magazine’s founder Mercury brave, in the 1687 edition. Today, this remark about the constant change in fashion seems self-evident. In the Baroque period, however, it was new and groundbreaking. During this era, the foundations for our modern understanding of fashion as a changing phenomenon and as a seismograph for societal, social and political change were laid. The development of the fashion press and the targeted promotion of French textile production under Louis XIV were the driving forces.

Costume books with fashion images appeared as early as the 16th century and were very popular with artists and collectors, especially during the Renaissance. One of the best known The antichi and modern customs in different parts of the world (1590) by Cesare Vecellio.

These books presented costumes from different regions or cities. Together with innovations in the copper engraving process, the printed fashion image took on a new meaning in the Baroque period in the form of single sheets or series and later in the first fashion magazines. Louis XIV not only promoted the production of luxury, but also made it possible to spread it across national borders through fashion engraving.

Between 1672 and 1710, the French fashion press experienced a heyday. On the Rue Saint Jacques in Paris, hundreds of fashion images were printed in a similar portrait format, in black ink on white paper and in a plain black frame. Subsequently, in some cases, hand-colouring was carried out at the request of the buyers.

The fashion engravings could also be purchased as single sheets and passed on, so that current fashion trends were disseminated quickly, cheaply and across national and professional boundaries. In addition to clothing, understanding fashion also includes hip gestures and rooms, such as the Jardin des Tuileries or the latest interiors, which were always shown in the background.

Progressive artists, publishers and dealers soon developed the successful medium further. Henri Bonnart is credited with the idea of ​​the so-called around 1683 portrait de cour and modes to have established. By showcasing upper-class or court figures with fashionable gestures and dresses, he created a kind of forerunner of the celebrity culture.

The mix between portrait and fashion image not only resulted in fashion innovations, but also aroused readers’ desire to identify with and imitate the personalities. In this sense, the fashion images fed the need to “see and be seen”.

Donneau de Visé went one step further, in 1672 with the Mercury brave launched a magazine that reported on fashion, culture and society news. In keeping with the understanding of fashion as an all-encompassing way of life, the magazine also contained poems and songs, accounts of courts and battles, theater reviews and arias.

The relaxed style in the form of conversation contributed to the success of the publication. The author, in a kind of fictitious correspondence, addressed the reader directly: «Je vous avais promis, Madame, de vous mander toutes les modes nouvelles […]» was read, for example, in the 1672 edition. The magazine, sponsored by the French monarch, appeared monthly from 1677 and played a key role in the dissemination of new fashions. For the first time, detailed descriptions of clothing, fashion accessories and fabrics were published in a magazine.

Donneau de Visé also launched the Extraordinary-Editions with fashion engravings, the most famous of which were drawn by the court artist Jean Bérain and engraved by Jean Lepautre. These were the first images in a regular magazine, which was groundbreaking for the later fashion magazines, which were based on the combination of image and text. Then and now, these engravings are among the most important sources of baroque clothing, as the precise images correspond to descriptive texts. Thus, in January 1678, a “Cornette fraisée de point de France” would be chosen for the woman’s headgear.

The focus was clearly on the material, color and motifs of the fabrics and accessories. While the cuts have varied little over the years, the textiles left room for innovation. The worldwide origin of the fabrics, their extensive production and the silk center of Lyon played a major role in this.

While the raw materials for textiles – mainly silk and cotton threads – had to be imported, France established itself as the center of textile production under Finance Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert and Louis XIV. Due to the strict quality controls of the “Grande Fabrique”, a kind of guild, Lyon became the most important place for silk production. In the middle of the 17th century, as part of the mercantilist and protectionist economic policies aimed at promoting the silk location, several changes in fabric design were made systematically each year.

In addition, Versailles launched a court calendar that specified which garments or accessories should be worn at which time of year. On the one hand, this led to a market in which the time of sale became decisive. On the other hand, the silk producers served and fed the demand for new designs, colors and qualities with a hitherto unknown variety and virtuosity.

The manufacturers in Lyon and the merchants and sellers of the cloth in Paris were Mercury brave again deliberately addressed and sometimes mentioned by name to promote the industry. The new seasonal rhythm was described in detail in the magazine, indeed the magazine lived to some extent from this rapid change with new current events. The synergy between the innovative fabric producers and the spread of the novelties via image and text eventually led to the establishment of the modern fashion system based on current events.

The trends from Versailles and Paris reached large segments of the population across Europe and also in Switzerland through the medium of prints. Only a fraction of the people could afford the mentioned fabrics, but everyone tried to orient themselves to the current fashion within the existing possibilities. The fashion system based on a seasonal rhythm centered in Paris has survived into the 21st century. Today, this system must be critically questioned in terms of careful use of resources and sustainable production.