^{Trend cycles.}

^{Whether you love them or hate them, they seem to be here to stay.}

^{Perhaps if Louis XIV (also known as the Sun King) hadn’t become the ruler of France in 1643, the idea of regularly replacing clothes from year to year due to changing fashions would’ve seemed completely absurd.}

^{Why should a perfectly good shirt be rejected in favor of a new perfectly good shirt just because the new one’s color, design or cut is what’s in this season?}

^{Louis XIV’s finance minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, would have certainly seen the logic in this.}

MINISTER OF LUXE

^{Before the reign of King Louis XIV, much of the luxury the French got their hands on was imported from countries like Spain (for fashion and clothing dyes); Belgium (for tapestries); and Italy (for lace and mirrors).}

^{But the king and Colbert set out to change this with a massive rebranding campaign that has more or less lasted until now.}

^{Colbert even snuck Venetian mirror makers into France so that they could teach the French their trade secrets. These Venetians risked severe punishment if they were ever caught. And Colbert was like, meh. With the backing of the king, he established a state-sponsored manufacturing system.}

^{The king himself promoted French artisans and manufacturers, even passing a law prohibiting foreign imports on goods such as textiles.}

OB-SESSED

^{Some say, because of past rebellions involving the French nobility, King Louis XIV compelled members of this class to live with him at Versailles for part of the year so as to keep an eye on his potential “enemies”, so to speak.}

^{The king was always fabulously flamboyant, wearing elaborate clothes and his signature red-heeled shoes (maybe these were the inspiration for Christian Louboutin’s red bottoms??)}

^{Vying for his attention and competing to impress him with their fancy dress meant little time for the nobles to plot against the crown.}

^{At court, King Louis XIV apparently took}

^{1“great pleasure in examining everyone’s outfits. The air of contentment with which he savored the profusion of materials and the brilliant inventiveness was evident, as was the satisfaction with which he praised…the most superb and ingeniously designed outfits…”}

^{He demanded that his courtiers always dress with exquisite extravagance and for this, his court became the most glamorous and aspirational in all of Europe.}

^{2”Restraint was anathema to the king, who demanded constant novelty and ever-increasing leaps of extravagance to pique his jaded eye…”}

^{It wasn’t long before the whole Western world fell proverbially at France’s feet, crowning it the fashion capital of the world, the place where taste was born.}

^{One could argue that Colbert saw His Majesty’s vanity as economic opportunity and from there, they developed the mandate requiring the production of seasonal fashions and textiles. (AKA a baby step toward the trend cycle as we know it today.)}

^{When they mandated the production of new fashions and textiles for each season, more than just promoting frivolity, this meant that they could drive consumption, increase the desire for novelty, and encourage people, in and out of France, to spend more money on French fashion.}

^{Fast-forward centuries later and France is still associated with high fashion and taste, so, I guess, good job with that, King Louis and Mr. Colbert?}

^{Yet I wonder if the Sun King were alive today, would he be as exhausted as many consumers are now with this global conveyor belt of never-ending trends…}

^{Or would he keep filling his closet with the latest pairs of Louboutins?}