Fashion

Magdalena Frackowiak at Paris Fashion Week (Fall 2011)

Paris has been an international capital of high fashion since the 19th century, particularly in the
domain of haute couture, clothing hand-made to order for private clients. It is home of some of
the largest fashion houses in the world, including Dior and Chanel, and of many well-known
fashion designers, including Karl Lagerfeld, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Christophe Josse and Christian
Lacroix. Paris Fashion Week, held in January and July in the Carrousel du Louvre and other city
locations, is among the top four events of the international fashion calendar, along with the
fashion weeks in Milan, London and New York.[234][235] Paris is also the home of the world's
largest cosmetics company, L'Oral, and three of the five top global makers of luxury fashion
accessories; Louis Vuitton, Herms and Cartier.[236]

Holidays and festivals

French Republican Guard on Bastille Day

Bastille Day, a celebration of the storming of the Bastille in 1789, the biggest festival in the city,
is a military parade taking place every year on 14 July on the Champs-lyses, from the Arc de
Triomphe to Place de la Concorde. It includes a flypast over the Champs lyses by the
Patrouille de France, a parade of military units and equipment, and a display of fireworks in the
evening, the most spectacular being the one at the Eiffel Tower.[237]
Other yearly festivals are Paris-Plages, a festive event that lasts from mid-July to mid-August
when the Right Bank of the Seine is converted into a temporary beach with sand, deck chairs and
palm trees;[237] Journes du Patrimoine, Fte de la Musique, Techno Parade, Nuit Blanche,
Cinma au clair de lune, Printemps des rues, Festival d'automne and Fte des jardins. Carnaval
de Paris, one of the oldest festivals in Paris, dates back to the Middle Ages.