This morning dawns under the long shadow of the death of the designer Oscar de la Renta, whose absence will be felt deeply in American fashion. In his memory, I thought it worth mentioning two events from Monday that Mr. de la Renta, of all people, would probably have appreciated.
To be specific: The sudden embrace of high-end fashion by Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York and President François Hollande of France, politicians who have had uneasy relationships with the luxury world.
Mr. de la Renta understood the value of working with the political establishment in a wholly bipartisan way. He was, in fact, a master of the form, going back as far as the administration of John F. Kennedy and spanning the Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama (finally) White Houses.
So he probably would have applauded the decision by Mr. de Blasio to declare this week “Madison Avenue Fashion Heritage Week.”
Calling Madison Avenue “the fashion epicenter of the five boroughs,” Mr. de Blasio said, “This week, we will celebrate 16 of these Madison Avenue-based fashion brands that have not only found success in our city and beyond, but have also maintained their position as leaders in the industry for decades.”
(They have presumably also paid a lot in rent and taxes.)
The brands include Dolce & Gabbana, Emilio Pucci, Ermenegildo Zegna, Hermès and Akris, among others.
Also on Monday, albeit across the Atlantic, Mr. Hollande officially opened the Fondation Louis Vuitton, a contemporary art museum and performance space in Paris. He was seen talking and posing happily with Bernard Arnault, the chairman of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and a friend of Nicolas Sarkozy, a former French president and Mr. Hollande’s rival.
Mr. Hollande did not stay for the inaugural dinner (soup with white truffles, veal cheeks with chanterelles, caramelized pears and crème brûlée), but Fleur Pellerin, the minister of culture and communication, and Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, represented the national and city governments. Also in attendance were LVMH designers such as Karl Lagerfeld (Fendi) and Nicolas Ghesquière (Louis Vuitton), members of the Arnault family, and celebrities like the actress Michelle Williams and the director Sofia Coppola.
The message in both instances was pretty clear: Fashion for the seemingly 1 percent, as an industry and as a benefactor, matters. These days, politicians — even the ones that run on more populous platforms — cannot afford to look away.
Related: Oscar de la Renta, Who Clothed Stars and Became One, Dies at 82