L´ homme exclusive

French men are full of esprit and definitely irresistible (Iturrizaga 2012). But what exactly is it, that other men don´t have? A certain type of passion and attitude is being expressed by French men, no matter what they aim at (Oldman 2013).
While France mirrors a country of origin key differentiation as an evaluation of product quality, especially in fashion, foreign consumers associate the French culture with attributes like exquisite taste, exclusiveness and unique design (Bruno et. al 2012). Applying those features on French men, a mixture of aloofness and a gifted sensibility will be pictured, as Nick (2009) stated. As the playwright and writer Moliere once said "Frenchmen are have an unlimited capacity for gallantry and indulge it on every occasion" (Jordan 2013), French men personify a timeless anxiety for keeping secrets and making others curious to reveal them (Iturrizaga 2012). In consideration of this fact, French men have proven to be internationally successful within the sector of fashion and art.

One symbol for French men is strength, for sure! A man who created a masterpiece is, no other than the business magnate Bernard Arnault, the head of the luxury group LVMH empire (Allen 2013). In 1989, a holding company emerged, accomplishing Arnault´s objective to maintain French heritage (Klaesgen 2013).

The powerful LVMH embodies luxury brands, that are aligned with a keen origin, in terms of the male strength. To name just a few of the most recognised companies - DIOR, Louis Vuitton and Givenchy. According to Rinallo and Golfetto (2005), fashion trends have been mainly shaped by these fashion houses, due to a passion to details. LVMH represents French quality at its best - perfection founded by French men (Mang 2011).

From being an artist to becoming a couturier, Christian Dior lived for style, visual representation and composition (Nikolau 2009). DIOR´s fashion designer and founder changed the appearance of women´s clothing in 1947 over night through the "New Look" (Rags 2011). Rounded shoulders, a chrinched waist and a very full skirt were all features that were inevitable to establish the DIOR/ new look, celebrating ulta-femininity (Koda 1996). Christian Dior designed only for one decade, until he died, but his work lasts to this day and still influences the fashion industry immensely (Rinallo and Golfetto 2005).

The world leader in leather accessories got its name from the founder as well- Louis Vuitton (Stenza 2010). The standard of high leather fashion began in the 1850´s, when Louis Vuitton provided exclusive leather case luggage and used lightweight canvas as main material (Raven 2010). CEO Yves Carcelle unveils a hint of the secret about one of the most profitable of its kind brand:

"You have to bring creativity and modernity, which we try to do all the time" (Henry 2009).

Hubert de Givenchy is another founder of a subsidiary of LVMH, whose fashion house stands for a success story since 1952 (Battershell 2011). The French luxury company keeps always up to date with trends and even designed recently some of the outfits for singer Rihanna´s 'Diamonds' world tour (Young 2013).

Tisco from Givenchy explained, the singer embodies what the collection represents:

"Female empowerment and urban haute couture elegance".

Those examples of designers show how influential French men can be in a very fast-paced fashion industry. Success makes sexy, but in what other areas are French men equally dominant in a time, where the actual role of men has dramatically changed within the last century?

Traditional gender roles between men and women are blurring (Barnett 2008). Dholaki, Pederson and Hikmet (1995) state, the conservative view of men being the “producers” and women as “consumers”, has definitely altered. Due to a heavy influence by lifestyle changes, male attitudes towards beauty have been changed significantly in recent years and even taking pride in their appearance is nowadays much more universally acceptable for men (Bischop 2012). The Mintel consumer market research report (2011) examines six in ten European men show a keen interest in personal appearance and almost half admit what they want most, is to look attractive and well groomed. 

In comparison to Simpson(1994) who illuminates the male vanity as finally revealed and embodied within the metrosexual type, Tungate (2008) analyses four categories as a template of the branded male. 
Here it comes! We got the New Man, who is empathetic, loyal and relationships play an important role to him. The Metrosexual is  superficial, narcissistic and shows a keen desire for brands. The New Lad is quite different though. He is more focused on his personal appearance, has neither well-educated nor well-respected profession and demonstrates an anti-feminist perspective on top of it! Last but not least, there is the Retrosexual, who shares an anti-feminist perspective with the new lad, but has only a low interest in his personal appearance. He could be a masculine bragger and might even have a respectable profession.

So, the essential question is, did French men change as well? Can we categorise them nowadays?

To be honest, there didn´t really take a change place in France. The men aren´t exactly part of those categories! French men are maybe kind of the 'new man' at the utmost. Various examples prove this, when we are facing French male actors, singers and models! 

The French actors...
Vincent Cassel is probably best known to English-speaking audiences through 'Black Swan', which has been released in 2010.

Louis Garrel simply portrays the French version of Robert Pattinson and should be recognised from 'The Dreamers', a 2003 romantic drama film.

Francois Cluzet is starring one of the biggest blockbusters ever from France (Douglas 2012) - 'The Intouchables', a 2012 movie based on a true story.

The French models...
Anthony Vibert is a green-eyed heartthrob who started his career in New York by accident, while he actually wanted to attend a business school.

Clément Chabernaud made his debut when he was 16 at the DIOR Homme show in Paris and now, he features every men´s magazine, such as 'L’Officiel Hommes', 'Arena Homme' and 'Vogue Hommes' (Coozer 2013).

Baptiste Giabiconi - a French male supermodel, singer and the face of Chanel!

The French singers...
Benjamin Siksou is a singer-songwriter and actor, who sings 'jazz blues'. He´s become famous through the 'Nouvelle Star' show in 2008.

Matthieu Tota is well-known as the singer and songwriter M Pokora for the Pop and R&B genre. He looks a bit like David Beckham, but that might be related to his own football ambition. 

What do they all have in common? Those men are all very much down-to-earth and quite handsome. Researchers may have noticed a change in the male appearance, but I disagree. Their attitude remains the same. French men always seem to capture something seductive, inapproachable and EXCLUSIVE! Maybe, the 'New Man' or the 'Metrosexual' could have emerged from the 'French Man'...