The Battle of Versailles

December 8, 2014
Washington Post fashion critic Givhan uncovers a little-known piece of fashion history: a 1973 show aimed at raising funds for Versailles Palace in France. The Versailles show put five American designers on the map in an era dominated by Parisian haute couture. Givhan provides illuminating insight into the styles of each designer, such as Oscar de la Renta's "ladylike formality," Anne Klein's groundbreaking designs for the modern working woman, Stephen Burrows's colorful palette and signature jersey dresses, Bill Blass's distinctly "Americanânot New York" sensibility, and Halston's simple tunics and ankle-grazing sweater dresses. In addition to the designers, Givhan introduces fascinating characters such as PR dynamo Eleanor Lambert, creator of New York Fashion Week, and the unprecedented number of African-American models in the Versailles show, including "runway queen" Billie Blair. At the gilded event itself, the French designers' ostentatious display was dwarfed by the raucous American production's "spontaneity, realism, and beautiful imperfection." Givhan paints a captivating portrait of the ethos of the era, from race riots and the Kerner Report to a "cultural... fascination with black identity" and glamorous nights at the disco, with juicy tales about arrogant designers acting out. While candid about the designers' faults, this is largely a glowing tribute to five iconic artists and their legacy in the fashion world. Agent: David Kuhn, Kuhn Projects.

December 15, 2014
On Nov. 28, 1973, Parisian haute couture faced off against the upstart American designers, and the Americans blew them away. In her debut book, Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post fashion critic Givhan delivers a delightful, encyclopedic exploration of the players and leaders in the field. The differences between the Paris world of fashion, with its strict rules of handmade quality and personal fit, and that of the ready-to-wear American, were hard and fast. In France, the term "haute couture" is a legally protected designation, and the established houses dictate every aspect of fashion. In America, it was the department stores determining the latest looks. Enter Eleanor Lambert (1903-2003), whose work establishing American fashion changed an entire industry. She was public relations representative for all the best designers, and she established New York's first fashion week, in 1943, as well as the Council of Fashion Designers of America. It was at a lunch with the curator of Versailles that the idea of a fashion fundraiser was born. Though it was never meant to be a competition, five American and five French designers came together that November evening, and the American style of design and show was established. The French-showing Hubert de Givenchy, Pierre Cardin, Emanuel Ungaro and Dior's Marc Bohan-followed their established style of exhibition. The wealthy onlookers took notice when the American sportswear designer Anne Klein (whom nobody wanted there) showed off her models with snappy movements and attitudes. Excitement built with the black models, who really made the show. African-themed outfits by Stephen Burrows were free, whirling and vital. Halston, Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta also showed well, and the world of fashion never looked back. These days, writes the author, fashion "feeds a constant cultural conversation with intermittent spikes of media saturation and personal punditry." Readers need not be fashion mavens to enjoy this entertaining episode of history, enhanced by Givhan's effortless ability to illustrate the models and designers (particularly Lambert) who changed how we dress.

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March 15, 2015

Written in an entertaining yet informative style by Washington Post fashion critic Givhan, this book sheds light on the American and French fashion industries of the late 20th century and contextualizes them in the broader historical moment of the period. In 1973, five American and five French designers showed their clothing in the grand theater at the Palace of Versailles in a benefit show to raise money for badly needed restoration of the chateau. Americans Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Anne Klein, Halston, and Stephen Burrows exhibited alongside French artists Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy, Pierre Cardin, Marc Bohan for Christian Dior, and Emanuel Ungaro. This event turned out to be groundbreaking for the Americans. Their presentations displayed an energy and showmanship that was fresh and foreshadowed the shift to and commercial success of ready-to-wear and sportswear that would develop in the decades that followed. In addition, the show reflected racial changes that were occurring in U.S. society, as ten of the three dozen professional models who displayed the American clothes were black. VERDICT A strong work to be enjoyed by 20th-century fashion history buffs.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 15, 2015
Until the 1970s, fashion happened exclusively in France. Whatever Paris said, women all over the world took heed, writes Pulitzer Prizewinning fashion critic Givhan in this examination of the fascinating day that this dynamic shifted forever. On November 28, 1973, five rising American designersOscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Anne Klein, Halston, and Stephen Burrowswere invited to showcase their work at a grand society gala at the palace of Versailles, sharing the evening's runway with the giants of French haute couture, including Yves Saint Laurent, Givenchy, and Dior. The night proved to be an extraordinary moment for the fashion world, pitting French tradition and artistry against an American individualism that privileged innovation, creativity, and diversity. As the visiting models, more than half of whom were African American, strutted and stomped down the runway to strains of soul music, the American designers authored a new era of contemporary fashion connected to performance and personality. Givhan's entertaining history captures the high cultural stakes in the budding American fashion industry that led to the fateful showdown and makes a case for the event's continued reverberations in the fashion world. Every reader with an eye to fashion will relish this.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)