1920s–1940s French Beginnings

WHEN A GROUP of investors conspired to turn some soggy land on France’s north coast into a resort so posh it would entice rich Parisians to make the 120-mile trip, little did they know they were launching a style revolution. But their goals were bricks and mortar (and money). They drained the marshes, built a railway and horse-racing track, and later constructed a grand casino flanked by elegant hotels and shops. It was Deauville. Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel opened her first boutique there in 1913, and Belle Époque socialites were instantly beguiled by the gamine designer’s comfortable, practical—and quite revolutionary—wool jersey sportswear. Before long, they had ditched their corsets and taken to strolling Deauville’s beachfront promenade in Chanel’s drapey belted cardigans, wide-legged trousers, and two-piece beach pajama sets. Modern resort wear had arrived.

At about the same time, the former Basque whaling port of Biarritz, on France’s wild southwest coast, was becoming a fashionable getaway for aristocrats who came to bathe in the therapeutic saltwater spas. In 1855, Napoleon III built Empress Eugénie a summer palace on a bluff overlooking the Grande Plage, a long sweep of tawny sand she had enjoyed visiting as a child. The villa was sold and eventually converted into the Hôtel du Palais, and the international elite kept its sumptuous rooms booked. Coco Chanel opened a couture house near the hotel in 1915 and was soon followed by French designer Jean Patou, whose women’s sportswear included golf culottes, pleated tennis skirts, and form-fitting bathing suits (with prominent “JP” logos) that rivaled Chanel’s in their daring. Both boutiques thrived.