Week 2 - William Chan - France

France's national aesthetic has a history of luxury and royalty as influence. In Abbott Payson Usher's article, Colbert and Governmental Control of Industry in Seventeenth Century France, it says how Colbert's vision of his "Grand Monarch" was to be built with "luxury and magnificence". The Grand Monarch was Colbert's main project to be built by Frenchmen to be able to compete with Italy. This idea was also shared exclusively to only a certain group of people and they were suppose to help create this idea. This shows that in their past history; France has always had a "standard" or level of art they want to maintain, and with doing such art/work, they maintain exclusive and special ideas.  

The country of France has a way to sell status, luxury, and maintain an idea of culture that revolves around being/doing 'high class'. It is the city that belongs to the Eiffel Tower, fine wine, and cheese. As we spoke about in class they also compete with England and Britain, and this is important because these are countries that are also very wealthy and powerful, so with France being in the race of competition, they revolve their sales and images around expensive, high end products. Their products are made to sell an image of wealth, high status, and with wealth and high status is gives an image of power. France's strategic way of maintaining this market is to also be able to get the people who they are marketing "France" to, to believe that all this is glamour and gold. People's perspective of France is what keeps their national aesthetic powerful and rich because they sell people quality; the brand of France consists of tourism, a lineage of kings/rulers, fashion, cuisine, and wine. All these different ways to market to people and their way of market is to get people to believe in this culture of 'high status', which keeps the brand "France" high status as well. 

QUESTION: Can status be "sold" differently other then through materialistic products?

Abbott Payson Usher, “Colbert and Governmental Control of Industry in Seventeenth Century France.”

https://thestateofsound.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/made-in-france.jpg