France honours its designers with new fashion measures

As Paris Men’s Fashion Week is in full swing, Rachida Dati and the French government have just announced new measures to support fashion and emerging designers. From new grants and residencies at the Villa Medici to providing spaces for fashion shows, the French fashion industry, which generates no less than 300,000 jobs, will receive stronger support this year. Indeed, the Ministry of Culture plans to offer young designers registered on the official Paris Fashion Week calendar freshly renovated venues, such as the Quadrilatère des Archives, suitable for hosting fashion audiences to present their collections. Additionally, the creation of a one-month fashion residency at the Villa Medici in Rome, with a grant of €15,000 and guidance from the Institut Français de la Mode and the FHCM, will also be implemented. The Minister of Culture further announced the establishment of three new grants "to enhance support for creation and research."

The first, amounting to €20,000, is dedicated to a "fashion designer collaborating with a young choreographer". This duo will be supported by Chaillot-Théâtre National de la Danse and the Centre National du Costume et de la Scène. The second grant, titled "fashion heritage," offers €10,000 annually for three years to a young researcher focusing on public collections. Finally, a third grant, also amounting to €10,000 annually over three years, will be awarded to a young researcher exploring "the prospective and innovative dimensions of fashion creation." As the minister stated, "Beyond being an industry, fashion is also an art. It has always been part of French identity, and today, all conditions are in place to enter a new golden age. France has been the birthplace of great couturiers and brings together a dynamic pool of fashion designers; supporting them is essential to fostering a new generation of creators."