The accidental historian of fashion's inflection point

Paris-based documentary filmmaker Loïc Prigent enjoys the kind of access to designers most can only dream of – and he's never been in higher demand.

Loïc Prigent at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris in 2019. He made his first big documentary after overhearing a Chanel client say it took 3000 hours to make her dress. Getty Images

Susan Owens

Sep 25, 2020 – 12.00am

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The French love an existential crisis. Well, philosophically speaking, best discussed over a glass of Pouilly-Fuissé.

But the crisis playing out in Paris right now, with a fresh surge in new coronavirus infections around the country, is the least desirable of all, arriving on the eve of what should be the high-octane 2021 spring-summer fashion shows, fuelling an industry with a €70 billion ($133 billion) annual turnover.