Fashion’s diplomatic role: an instrument of French prestige-based commercial diplomacy, 1960s–1970s

Abstract

This article re-examines the aid-to-couture plans enacted by France at the end of the 1960s from both historical and diplomatic perspectives. In so doing, it assesses the decision-making process of French public authorities, couturiers and textile manufacturers by cross-referencing archives from multi-stakeholder meetings with diplomatic archives. By building on the current literature in Fashion Studies that stands at the confluence of cultural and business perspectives, this article adds to it a diplomatic perspective to re-evaluate the role of fashion for diplomacy. It argues that contrary to the traditional narrative on the role of fashion in favour of textile exports, haute couture and fashion instead became a fixture of France’s post-war prestige-based commercial diplomacy through a mix of nation branding avant la lettre and export branding.