The French Fashion Institute (IFM) released a study on Tuesday that found the week long event – which consists of 300 runway shows around the city – brings in €1.2 billion in revenue.
With six different fashion weeks per year, this results in as much as €10.3 billion annually.
According to federation leaders, the industry, which is perhaps one of the more underrated in its significance, is worth up to €150 billion, or 2.7 percent of France's GDP, and accounts for up to 1 million jobs.
This tops the annual revenues of France’s aeronautic industry (the largest in Europe – at €120 billion per year) and automobile industry (at €39 billion year per year).
So despite celebrity scandals, longer queues at the city’s trendy cafés, and paparazzi-crowded parks, the Fashion Week craze carries more benefits for Paris and France than the headlines indicate.
Isabel Miller-Bottome
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