The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-09-21
Stylists' Resistance To Nazis
 Keeps Fashion Center In Paris
nx RoSETTR HARcRovE MIA Staff Cor .NanandNnk

ANAAAAANAA 0ustry Ab present is in Q stronger poeltion than before the outbreak oe the war, even after four years of 0erman occupation, This has been achieved despite the overwhelming odds ot the most difficult working conditions and restrictions, but the leading style creators were deter. mined from the outset to % on ct all cost, knowing that their entire future was AS stake. This is true of oil tho luxury trades, The result Is that Paris today is geared to oper. ate on . peAeetlEne basis aS soon as che worlds buyers can come to Eur ope
 Soon after occupation, the Ger mans attempted to transfer the en- tire couture industry to Berlin and Vienna. The creators pointed out the well-known fact that style IS on intangible quality needing the Paris atmosphere, Transfer to another country would have defeated the victor's purpose to preserve the in- dustry, which is Q tangible asset, they argued,
 They also pointed out that 1t took, ct the very least, seven to ten years of training to turn out Q good worker, According to Lu. clen Lelong, who became director of the garment industry, perniis- elon to continue working was can- celled no less than l4 times be. fore the couture was allowed to festart the business at the end of 1o4o.
 FABULOUS PRICES
 From then on all efforts were made to keep alive the French creative genius aS we'll as to in- sure the livelihood of thousands of workers in the luxury industries with limited resources at their diS~ posal. Besides the well known lead- CTS such as Lanvin, Patou, MolyneuH Worth, RochAs, Paquin, Lelong, Bruyere, Piguet, Halenciaga, faeilt. ties were extended to secondary houses, always with the Idea of maintaining Paris prestige,
 Ielong, as spokesman for the couture, obtained an alloeation of co tons of wool and silk fabrics for distribution among so houses in ratio to their pre.war turnover Women deSlrouS of buying a model made application through their couturier to obtain . special pur- chase card, In exchange they Sup- piled an equivalent of two pounds of wool or silk fabrE and paid 20 per cent tax for the national relief fund over and above the purchase price, which soon reached quasi aS- tronemieal figures,
 ' The first price Of model dress today Is 10000 francs equivalent Go A2oo, The fact that colossal for. tunes were soon being made in the black market resulted in an entire iy new clientele which, added to the nucleus of fashionable women remaining In Paris, enabled tho couture and luxury industry to sur- Viva, -
 70 keep up the creative spirit as well as the high grade work mAAship which Is the Paris preroga. tive, every collection was compelled Go show . percentage of richly em- broadoFOd models and feature the ueo of braidlng, paSSementerie and lace dresses, The sale of lace, incl" dentally, never was restricted,
 In io42 the designers, desirous ot aseertainlng whether the Paris eou' turO was still Q byWord of the faShs lon world, organized an exhibition in Lyons which then was In the un. occupied sone, Eighteen leading houses participated. Five hundred buyers attended, of which only 10 were Germans and the fact that every buyer was willing to pay a guarantee of 10000 francs was sui. fieient proof to the organizers that Paris prestige was still supreme Acute fabric shortages preeluded TO. peat models of those displayed, but they bought paper patterns for lo,. 600 francs each.
 Leading creators assert France made Q great step forward in or. t!ficial woolS, silks and linens. In iOlO she was ct least Q year behind the Germans, who had long eXper- ineated in ersatS fabrics, but fol. lowing glx months of hard work, the French manufacturers took tk.e lead which they retain today Steps are being taken to put stop to the fashion pirating which prevailed be- fore the war and to safeguard both tho creators and the buyers. Paris expects c boom season as soon aS buyers are permitted to travel to France and now are preparing the creative genius never faltered even they believe will prove that French very best collections ever, which in the darkest days,