RECEPTION DOUBTFUL

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21336, 6 February 1941, Page 3

RECEPTION DOUBTFUL

GERMANISED PARIS MODES Dr, Josef Hartmann, counsellor to the German military administration in Paris, has announced that it is hoped to resume export of Paris dress and hat fashions to America, j Germany is doing her utmost to 1 find the necessary materials. The general textile situation in: occupied France is satisfactory, al-; though production is only 30 per cent of that of pre-war. Emphasis is being placed on the manufacture of rayons and fibre materials, with a view to reaching the widest market. Two million workers are already at their looms in northern textile districts, where there is remarkably little war damage, except in the neighbourhood of Dunkirk and Sewan, although in many cases looms and stocks were left unattended until they deteriorated. German textile experts made an inventory immediately after the occupation and found the quantities available were not so great as they expected. New factories will be in operation by the end of the year. “Paris” fashions are already being extensively created in America by many famous designers, who escaped, following France’s capitulation. Even before the war, New York was already making a bid to establish leadership in the fashion world. The reception which a Germanised version of Paris modes would | receive in America is doubtful, in the opinion of Sydney dress author-