Fashion Houses Quietly Face Up to AIDS : The AIDS Epidemic in Paris Fashion Houses: Few Words, Lots of Support Action
In the glittering world of fashion AIDS remains an almost taboo topic, but attitudes here are beginning to change.
“We’ve lost many friends--40 from my address book recently,” said Jean-Jacques Picart, president of Christian Lacroix. “I was devastated, but we must help in spreading information.”
He would not estimate how many in his company have AIDS, but other fashion executives said there are many in the industry.
Patrick Kelly, an American designer in Paris, died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome two years ago. Others prominent in the industry are believed to have died of it, but there is no official count among the fashion houses.
“It’s a pity people don’t want to talk,” Picart said. “In France, there is a kind of Catholic modesty involved, not to mention libel laws protecting personal privacy. It’s a deterrent to media coverage of the subject.”
“AIDS is affecting many, but you just don’t print certain things about public figures, whatever their profession.” said Carol Mongo, a fashion critic and teacher at Parsons School of Design in Paris.
“Of course, AIDS is a problem, but we cannot give out statistics,” said Jacques Mouclier, executive president of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture, ruling body of the French fashion industry. “Luckily, our top couturiers have so far been spared.”
France has the worst AIDS epidemic in Europe. The death toll has passed 14,000; HIV carriers are believed to number 200,000.
“Every fashion house is affected,” said Christophe Girard, secretary-general of Yves Saint Laurent. “We have been ravaged by it.” He said that at least seven of YSL’s 350 employees in France have died of AIDS.
Saint Laurent has sponsored benefits for anti-AIDS causes, and president Pierre Berge heads an organization that sponsors AIDS research, information and home care for patients.
“He believes that HIV-positives must take hope and not lie down and die,” Girard said. “We try to help the afflicted in all kinds of ways.”
ARCAT raises money via star-studded galas at, for instance, the Opera Bastille and Pompidou Center. Next year’s benefit will take place at a museum of African art. “We’ll have Bobby Short playing the piano and people paying up to $900,” Girard said.
Many in the fashion industry were reluctant to talk about the epidemic. A spokesman for one famous house asked for anonymity and explained that his company, although distressed about the disease, did not want to comment.
Marie-Louise de Clermont Tonnerre, speaking for Chanel, said: “We help, through various institutions . . . but we cannot discuss it extensively.”
At Cardin, spokesman Pierre Crey said: “Pierre Cardin is concerned, as is the whole house, and we give to various causes. That’s all we can say.”
Picart, at Lacroix, was adamant about promoting an open attitude.
“The more you talk about it, the more you un-dramatize it,” he said. “We should be informing people. This is a calamity, but not punishment. My two teen-age sons discuss the problem with me. There must be more of this.”
Vincent Lerouche, an American designer who left Cardin to work on his own, said 10 friends had died of AIDS, but he believes the problem is receding in the industry.
He said the French, although reluctant to talk about the disease, often display a more caring attitude in private than Americans do.
“If employees do fall ill there is much personal attention, from daily visits and financial aid to transport in chauffeur-driven cars,” Lerouche said
Paris fashion figures admit that there is more openness about AIDS in America, where designers such as Perry Ellis and Halston are acknowledged to have died of AIDS.
“I can’t talk about percentages, but we’re extremely concerned here,” said Robert O’Rourke, a professional fund-raiser in New York who has worked for the AIDS cause. One sale and gala he organized in 1990 raised $4.5 million.
