The Battle of Versailles, 1973: The Night American Designers Beat Paris

On the evening of November 28, 1973, a fundraiser intended to restore the Palace of Versailles sparked the beginnings of American designers cementing their place in the largely French-dominated fashion world. The event was officially dubbed “the Grand Divertissement à Versailles”,  but is better known today as “The Battle of Versailles” between five American and five French fashion houses. Yet, no one would have guessed that American designers, with their tight budget, largely Black cast of models, and lack of theatrics, would captivate the crowd in contrast to French designers’ extravagant props and lavish designs. This begs the real question: how did the Americans do it? 

The fundraiser took place in the Théâtre Gabriel at the Palace of Versailles, featuring then-unknown American designers Oscar de la Renta, Halston, Stephen Burrows, Bill Blass, and Anne Klein against French powerhouses Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy, Emmanuel Ungaro, Pierre Cardin, and Marc Bohan for Christian Dior. The American lineup brought in more diversity, featuring the show’s sole female (Anne Klein) and Black (Stephen Burrows) designers. The event gained lots of press traction, which eventually gave rise to the famed moniker of ‘The Battle of Versailles’.

The Battle of Versailles: A Night to Remember

The French displays were ornate and intricate, with each designer spending around $30,000 on their respective sets. Despite the entire affair taking place in a sprawling French palace, with over 700 attendees from the highest tax bracket, there were still undoubtedly lavish displays. Emmanuel Ungaro bizarrely introduced a gypsy caravan pulled on stage by a painted rhinoceros. Elsewhere, Pierre Cardin commissioned a rocket for his set, whereas Yves Saint Laurent looked to the 1930s to create a set which featured a full-length limousine and a cast of models being carried on the arms of drag queens. Robin Givhan, in ‘The Battle of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled into the Spotlight and Made History ’, explains that these extravagant, yet somewhat jarring, displays were meant to be transitions between each designer’s set.

In contrast, the American representation was far more minimalistic. R&B music played from cassette tapes, and the backdrops were hand-drawn by staff merely hours before. Their designers were virtually unknown before stepping onto the stage, neither their works nor names having established a presence within the fashion world. Their models were equally unknown, with a third being African-American women, including Pat Cleveland, China Machado, Alva Chinn and Jennifer Brice, making it one of the most diverse runways the fashion industry had ever seen at a major show.

The American opening was led by Liza Minelli, wearing Halston, who strutted onto the runway to the tune of a modified version of ‘Bonjour, Paris’. She was followed by a line of models, wearing garments from each designer, who put on a show of being “people on the street seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time”.

Aside from the models’ playful, almost film-like showcase of the clothing, the clothing itself drew the eye of the Versailles crowd. Unlike the French styles, which were more classically tailored, structured garments with complex stitching and elaborate clasps, the American clothes were more focused on the ease of dressing through practical clothing with breezier, less structured styles designed for the “quick-moving, independent woman” (Givhan).

The Americans closed off their show with Stephen Burrows, a young Black designer who graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Models like Bethann Hardison strutted onto the runway wearing flowing, feminine gowns while walking with unconventional swagger. Pat Cleveland, Burrows’s closer, entered the stage by “spinning like a top”, twirling until she finally made her perfect landing at the very edge of the stage. Then, she was accompanied by the other models, who crowded around her and began voguing and posing onstage.

It was a show that the fashion world had never seen before. The crowd went wild – the audience threw their programs into the air in approval and gave the show an incredible round of applause. “They started screaming and stomping on the floor and throwing their programs in the air and screaming, ‘Bravo!’” Burrows said.

The Power of Novelty & Appealing to Contemporary Expectations 

The Battle of Versailles ultimately reveals the nature of the fashion industry being constantly evolving. Consumers will always favour new and innovative ideas that take fashion in a new, modern direction – as the world changes year-by-year, so do expectations for fashion and what is considered desirable for a consumer.

It wasn’t that the French had done anything wrong with their own presentations – they had the carefully-crafted garments, entertaining displays, and impressive musical intermissions that were the cornerstones of any high-profile fashion show. Rather, their failure lay in sticking to this pre-existing structure. Their clothing was lavish and luxurious, but did not stray from the conventional mould of ‘high-fashion’. Their presentations, though visually stunning and impressive, did not seem to stand out against the already exorbitant interiors of Versailles. The issue lay not in their execution or their creativity, but rather in the current state of the fashion world in the 1970s: the Versailles audience was very likely experiencing fatigue with lavish high-fashion displays, and the French were unable to step away from the runways’ predetermined structure. 

The American display succeeded in its introduction of novelty and innovation in the fashion world: their designers were unknown, their models were unknown, and their designs were practically unheard of in Paris. Yet, the audiences were captivated by the American designers’ ability to break away from the traditional model of high fashion houses. 

Bill Cunningham particularly recalls Stephen Burrows’ impact in Versailles: “Here came this young black fella, with dresses as you’ve never seen…on models as the French had never seen. And when they walked out onto that stage … the audience nearly went crazy.”

Pat Cleveland praises American clothing as “presenting the feeling of freedom and independence”, which aligned with the 70s’ shifting social sentiments around femininity and sexuality. These changes in consumer expectations stimulated appeal for practical and accessible fashion as opposed to intricate, complex designs, providing the perfect foundation for American ready-to-wear fashion to secure its place in the European market. 

The Battle of Versailles is remembered today as an iconic moment in fashion that secured American designers a place at the table in a primarily European-dominated industry. Aside from this, the show reveals to us the importance of stepping out of traditional molds and bringing fresh faces, fresh ideas, and fresh designs onto centre stage.

Author: Eunice Yang