The fashion sector is accustomed to highlighting its strength: a higher weight in French GDP than that of the automotive and aeronautics industries. At the last Fashion Forum, the Institut Français de la Mode (IFM), led by Dominique Jacomet, introduced the analysis of INSEE 2016 figures carried out by its teams in collaboration with those of Quadrat Etudes.

The direct scope of fashion in France, foreign subsidiaries are not accounted for - IFM
The IFM boss pointed out that the direct turnover was 154 billion euros, with activities from manufacturing to retail. A major detail: this figure does not include foreign-based subsidiaries. Export turnover represents 35.7 billion euros. In the end, value added was 37.5 billion euros (12.9 billion euros for industry and 24.6 billion for distribution) in 2016, representing 1.7% of French GDP, compared with 1.5% for the automotive sector and 0.7% for aeronautics.

In terms of direct fashion sales, textiles and clothing accounted for 66.3 billion, perfumes 46.4 billion, leather trio 21.2 billion, optics 8.7 billion, watchmaking and jewellery 7.3 billion and related services 4.2 billion. The breakdown was 49% retail, 26% manufacturing, 22% wholesale and 3% related services. It should be noted that between 2015 and 2016, the sector had gained nearly three billion, thanks in particular to the rise in perfumes and the footwear-leather-leather-making category.

The breakdown of the direct turnover of the sector in 2016 - MFI
But what is particularly remarkable in these figures are the analyses of indirect effects, i.e. the value added by the intermediate consumption of the sector, and the induced effects, i.e. the expenditure of the 616,552 jobs recorded in the sector in 2016.

Poster fashion contributes 3.1% of French GDP with the direct, induced and indirect effects of the sector in 2016 - MFI
In total, the weight of fashion in France is therefore 68.9 billion euros, or 3.1% of GDP, and concerns about one million jobs. The indirect effects, with the use of business support services but also legal, accounting or architectural export services, contracts with transport and logistics companies, relations with real estate specialists or orders to the chemical industry, represent no less than 21.2 billion euros. The induced effects are estimated at €10.2 billion in added value.

Tradition of the month of November, Paris is lighting up with Christmas decorations and will offer a new light show, "Flamboyance", for the Avenue des Champs-Elysées on 22 November.

Karl Lagerfeld, godfather of the Illuminations des Champs-Elysées

Chosen as the sponsor of the Illuminations, Karl Lagerfeld will light the avenue alongside Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, and Jean-Noël Reinhardt, the President of the Champs-Elysées Committee, "an event that allows Paris to keep the reputation of Ville Lumière, says the designer, with the Champs-Elysées illustrating this title of glory like no other place in the City of Light".

Scheduled to last until January 7, the illuminations of the Champs-Elysées will light up the avenue with a red coat from Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe, white and blue flashes sparkling in the trees.

This event follows the traditional opening of the department store windows on November 7 and 8. In Spring Haussmann, it was Laetitia Casta, muse of the Maison Boucheron, who unveiled the windows of the "Magic Worlds of Santa Claus", 11 windows and four paintings featuring two heroes, Jules and Juliette, who went in search of Santa Claus and were illustrated by Canada Goose, Ugg, Dyson, Häagen-Dazs and Marni.

Inauguration of the windows at Galeries Lafayette

At Galeries Lafayette, it was the actress and ambassador of the Maison Piaget Jessica Chastain who inaugurated "La Fabrique des rêves", the theme chosen by the department store, honouring the characters imagined by the children through a drawing competition. The illumination of the Grand Sapin Piaget and the opening of the exhibition "Tomorrow, the Chimeric Ship" at the Galerie des Galeries crowning the event.

On the left bank, Le Bon Marché completed the picture of illuminations by transporting its visitors to the heart of the forest around windows decorated with fir trees, while the BHV Marais dedicated its windows to the character of Mary Poppins.

The last event to follow is that of the Comité Montaigne, which will open its lighting programme at 7pm on Tuesday, November 20, alongside the host Stéphane Bern. A sparkling scenography that will decorate the trees and fences of the gardens of the luxury houses on Avenue Montaigne.

Paris has the secret of this very special emulation, between pharaonic shows of the great names of globalized luxury and new "alterground" labels, without forgetting those that have really emerged and are looking to the establishment side, ready to fight it out and assert themselves as the real next generation, credible and competitive.

So, the five points that needed to be remembered ab-so-lu-ment from this fashion-week?

We tell you everything:

The Volume

It is probably the most spectacular Parisian trend of the season but also the most legitimate: the return of Couture volumes for a very "dramatic" silhouette that makes allegiance to the 80's, these splendid years of Parisian haute couture. Inflated, theatrical, sculpted, exaggerated, please!

Anthony Vaccarello at Saint Laurent is the undisputed leader of this trend, while Isabel Marant focuses on shoulders and sleeves. Lemaire offers a more peaceful and sober version of this trend.

Wall tiles

If New York swears by stripes, Paris clearly chose the tiles during this fashion-week. In continuity with the enthusiasm for this winter's Prince of Wales, they are multiplying for spring 18, Scottish, window panes, maxi-vichy...

At Balenciaga, everything is based on tartan, while Balmain plays the bold card in black and white to the full. At Sonia Rykiel's, the maxi-vichy makes a welcome breath of fresh air.

The Nodes

It's the gimmick of the season, there's always one, this time it's the effect tied around the shoulders, whether it's a sweater, a big knot or a trompe-l'oeil effect, integrated into the design of the garment itself. So it can be a simple styling effect (because it's cool) or a more conceptual approach to construction.

Sacai is in fact one of the major axes of his collection, while at Off-White, Virgil Abloh gives a more elegant dimension to his label, originally from street-wear culture. For Balenciaga, Demna Gvasalia plays with delight on the codes of the bourgeois woman transformed into a fashion beast.

Fringes

The fringe is back, doubt is no longer allowed, but beware: nothing to do with the folk fringe of previous seasons that haunts all the music festivals on the planet... ! It is the most advanced designers who take hold of it and open up new perspectives for it.

Fashion's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it.