Podcast: Pascal Morand of the FHCM on the role of the French Fashion Institute

With just a few days to go before the opening of Paris Fashion Week, Pascal Morand, Executive President of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, is the new guest on the LuxurynsightXFashionNetwork podcast. He spoke with Godfrey Deeny, the international editor-in-chief of FashionNetwork.com, about his career and role of the French Fashion Institute.

A graduate of HEC, this economist and musician, who has lived between Paris and Alsace, headed up the Institut français de la mode (IFM) from 1987 to 2006, shortly after its creation, when he was still new to the world of fashion.

“The IFM had just been founded by Pierre Bergé in 1986,” recalls Pascal Morand. “When I was approached, there had been a previous director who had only stayed for a year […] At the time I was playing as the synthesiser in the rock band called King Lear, and we had a number of good concerts and radio recordings, which was a real plus for Pierre Bergé, who was also interested in my motivations as a committed young economist not just focused on maths.”

In this episode, Pascal Morand recalls some of the “major projects” that have enabled the IFM to position itself as a key player in the fashion and luxury goods industry in France, such as the merger with the Ecole de la chambre syndicale de la couture parisienne in 2019 (he was a member of the steering committee in charge of the merger), as well as its key partnerships with some of the biggest names in luxury goods, including Dior, Chanel, Chloé, Celine, Louboutin, Balenciaga and Ami Paris. 

He goes on to talk about the ambitious goals of the institute – which today has over 1,300 students – to shape the future of fashion education and innovation, and the IFM’s move in 2008 to the Docks in the Cité de la Mode et du Design, a neon green modernist building overlooking the Seine, designed by Dominique Jakob and Brendan MacFarlane, one of the greatest architectural projects in Paris in recent decades, according to him. 

An advocate of “exemplary” and “more inclusive” fashion

Succeeding Stéphane Wargnier, Pascal Morand, who took over as head of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM) at the end of January 2016, is keen to “maintain and strengthen Paris as a global capital” for fashion and to support its members on “the industry’s major contemporary challenges such as legal, social, recruitment, sustainability and innovation issues.” This institution, which coordinates Paris Fashion Week and Haute Couture Week, has a cosmopolitan orientation, stresses its director, bringing together “two-thirds of French fashion houses and one-third of international labels” selected for their creativity and unique expertise.

An advocate for the promotion of diversity and the representation of fashion and luxury within the French industry, the 68-year-old decision-maker, who has received the Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, Chevalier de l’ordre national du Mérite and Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, asserts that “fashion must be exemplary” and “more inclusive”. He also spoke of the major security measures put in place, such as the “guidelines sent to the houses and guests” of fashion shows for the forthcoming Men’s Fashion Week (18 to 23 June) and Haute Couture Week (24 to 27 June). The dates of which have been brought forward to avoid any overlap with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Pascal Morand was also head of ESCP Europe (from 2006 to 2012), a business school where he has also been a professor since 1993. A connoisseur of the sector, he has published a number of works on economy, fashion, culture, innovation and competitiveness, including his 2012 book Les religions et le luxe, published by IFM.