At the pinnacle of the US cultural pyramid, one particular inspiration has echoed across the centuries through friendship and tension alike: France.
The US love affair with French luxury goods and their cultural cachet and craftsmanship has spanned the younger country's history, and a new exhibit explores the story of how these treasures shaped a cultural exchange that marks 250 years of Franco-American relations.
Among the standouts in the Hidden Treasures exhibit at The Shed in Manhattan – the Givenchy coat worn by former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy; a Cartier lunar module replica from Apollo 11; and a medal commissioned by Benjamin Franklin.
The organisers behind the exhibit, Comite Colbert, represent the top French luxury "maisons”, or houses – including fashion, perfume, jewellery, hospitality and spirits.
They asked 65 luxury maisons and cultural institutions to excavate archives and unearth pieces that embodied the Franco-American bond.
The exhibit, which runs through the end of May, comes at a time when US consumers account for a major share in the demand for French luxury goods.
Those luxury houses are taking notice – and expanding in the US.
"American people love French elegance – the 'je ne sais quoi' of French luxury,” said Benedicte Epinay, president and CEO of Comite Colbert.
"It’s a deep link starting at the 18th century and still alive.”
Just as Comite Colbert is honouring France’s bond with the US, the US is celebrating its own 250 milestone – its semiquincentennial.
"The US is a relatively young country,” said James Burroughs, professor of commerce at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce.
"For much of our existence, we were a relatively modest economy. We were overshadowed by dominant cultures like France.”
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The link between the two countries can be seen in perhaps the most renowned American symbol, the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France dedicated in 1886.
But even before that – and even before French historian Alexis De Tocqueville famously wrote his epic work about US democracy in the 1830s – Americans turned to France as arbiters of taste.
To commemorate France’s support during the Revolutionary War, one of the Founding Fathers of the US, Benjamin Franklin, turned to French artists and the Paris mint to commission the Libertas Americana medal in 1782.
Exhibit attendees can get an up-close look at the medal's design. Each item on display was presented in shipping containers to symbolise the trans-Atlantic voyage between both countries.
In an effort to market French luxury goods to US audiences, one French Champagne company’s unique approach is on display at the exhibition.
An ad from Champagne giant Veuve Clicquot from 1964 shows how the company paired its Champagne with hamburgers to appeal to American audiences and to break away from the image of saving a glass of Champagne for special occasions.
"Luxury is always about status and signalling,” Burroughs said.
Much like its role in the French luxury sector, fashion brought the star power to the exhibit.
Givenchy offered Kennedy Onassis’s pink, brushed-cashmere wool coat from her 1961 visit to France for the exhibit. Madonna’s revealing pinstriped Jean Paul Gaultier dress from his 1992 runway show to benefit Aids research is also on display.
French luxury houses are catering to their US audiences by bringing their designs to the country as well.
The French fashion maisons from Dior, Louis Vuitton and Chanel have all staged their runway shows in the US in recent months.
"European luxury goods companies are in the process of getting deeper into the USA,” Luca Solca, luxury goods senior analyst at Bernstein, said in an email.
"In the past, only the two coasts and Las Vegas had luxury stores. American consumers are step by step warming up to European luxury. In a similar vein to what Chinese consumers did many years ago.”
These brands are not only holding extravagant runway shows in the US but are expanding their businesses across the US Hermes opened a new location in Nashville last year.
"What the French have done really well... in the last 15 years, is that they have opened up their range of products to create offers that are very relevant to the mass American consumer,” said Thomaï Serdari, New York University marketing professor and director of the luxury and retail MBA.
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French jewellery brand Boucheron featured a dramatic diamond Belle Epoque style necklace at the exhibit replicated after the necklace the brand sold to Irish-American couple Marie-Louise Mackay and her husband, John William Mackay in 1899.
The couple, who amassed their fortune through silver mines, commissioned 50 pieces from the house.
Looking to capture a new generation of collectors, the brand now has three US stores under its umbrella since opening on Madison Avenue in 2024.
Helene Poulit-Duquesne, Boucheron's CEO and incoming president of the Comite Colbert, said that the brand has plans to open a fourth store in the US before the end of the year.
After increased growth from spending during the pandemic, the luxury sector is now grappling with tariffs from the Trump administration and economic uncertainty.
The European Commission agreed to a deal with president Donald Trump on a 15% tariff on goods last year before the Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s call in February.
For the luxury houses, Epinay said, tariffs are in the past.
"Politics and economics, it’s up and down," she said. "We’re here to celebrate this strong cultural link between us.” – AP
