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Farewell, Ready-To-Wear. Adieu, Couture

A post from DoubleX writer Erica Kawalek:

It’s a gloomy, retrospective day for fashion.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a meeting was to have taken place today between French Prime Minister Francois Fillon and a group of government advisers, luxury titans, and master craftsmen. The purpose? To discuss subsidies that might save feathermakers, milliners, embroiderers, and dressmakers from extinction. (To witness some of these artisans at work, check out the documentary Signé Chanel.) The French luxury sector has been hard-hit by the recession, the article explains: This year, business has dipped 30 percent. The fear is that the recession could kill off the remaining 115 businesses that cater exclusively to the high-end fashion and haute couture industries.

But it’s not just luxury fashion workers who are at risk ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX).