Why the French Do Fashion Best

A month of fashion goes out with a bang this week in the city that does it best—Paris. As recent Big Think guest and New York Magazine fashion director Harriet Mays Powell tells us, Paris is “just a city that really dazzles, and they have, I think, basically the best clothes on the planet.”

Powell gives us a sharp run down of the nature of French fashion, and why French women generally spend smarter on clothes than American women. She also shares her thoughts on fellow NY fashion grand dame Anna Wintour, and why NY Magazine is more than just Vogue-lite.

Or course, with the outpouring of influential fashion bloggers and the debut of several savvy and off-beat new magazines, the dominance of the Vogue model becomes less and less sure. Powell gives us her thoughts on the enduring importance of Vogue and other glossies and shares her concern about staying relevant in an industry that thrives on youth.