Paris Fashion Plate

In fashion, Paris is known for being home to the headquarters of many luxury houses. Dior, Givenchy, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Chanel, Saint-Laurent, Celine, Hermès, Lanvin and Louis Vuitton all call the city home. Paris also draws crowds twice per year with Paris Fashion Week, a series of fashion shows that feature top maisons showcasing their latest pieces. In addition, the city is home to some of the top fashion schools in Europe, including ESMOD International, the Institut Francais de la Mode, Studio Berçot and the Paris College of Art. Explore a wide range of French apparel and accessories on 1stDibs.

Paris is called the fashion capital of the world for two main reasons. First, the city is home to Paris Fashion Week, a semiannual series of fashion shows organized by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. The event dates back to 1973, when the inaugural fashion week took place. The second reason is that several luxury fashion houses have their headquarters in Paris. Among them are Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Saint Laurent, Hermès, Balmain, Givenchy and Chloe. On 1stDibs, shop a wide range of apparel, bags, shoes and accessories.

Coco Chanel was considered one of the leading fashion designers in the 1920s and ’30s in Paris. The first Chanel shop was established in 1910 on rue Cambon by the young milliner Gabrielle Chanel, who had picked up the nickname “Coco” while working as a club singer. The boutique drew the attention of the Parisian fashion elite, who popularized her wide-brimmed Chanel Modes hats. Soon, she added a sportswear store in the Normandy resort town of Deauville, where Coco set the tone for her defining sense of style — traditionally masculine garments reimagined for feminine shapes, made from simple jersey fabric. Effortless and elegant, Chanel's designs promoted comfort and grace in women’s wear that had been dominated in the previous century by complicated layers of fabric and cumbersome corsets. She followed this success with a couture house, opened in 1915 in Biarritz. In 1926, Chanel introduced her first little black dress, reclaiming a color that had once been reserved for mourning and working-class women. That same decade, she debuted her perfume, Chanel No. 5, as well as the Chanel suit with a fitted skirt, inspired by the boxy lines of men’s clothing and employing a sporty tweed. During the 1920s, she also unveiled the predecessor for the 2.55 Flap bag, which remains one of Chanel's most popular offerings. Shop a large selection of Chanel apparel, bags and accessories on 1stDibs.