“He allowed us to understand that Paris needed to be blind to nationality in order to prevail. One was very aware at the time that, though Paris fashion was bursting at its seams with a great influx of international designers, there was a long road yet to be traveled. Didier’s arrival provided a clear and visible compass.
“His work with Thierry Mugler [helped him] understand the challenges confronting an international, growing company. His great culture and curiosity [showed us] that one’s status as a designer in Paris was not a question of blood or passport, but of creativity. Paris needed us all.”
— Dries Van Noten
“Paris is the place where fashion is expected to be at its most magical, and Didier’s elegant supervision maintained that standard in a modern, inclusive way.”
— Rick Owens
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“Didier Grumbach had an altogether new vision for fashion.
“He created an organization called C&I [Createurs et Industriels] in Paris where young designers could meet and exchange ideas, and [get] advice when they tried to turn their creations into business opportunities. To make this possible, Didier talked to many businesses and corporations, always acting with the future in mind, without any egotistical motive. He always kept the big picture for fashion in mind.
“Didier wanted to make Paris an international fashion stage, so he started presenting shows by rising young designers from places other than Paris. It was because of this opportunity and at his suggestion that I moved to Paris to show my collections in 1973.
“I believe that Didier’s activities then still support the basis for Paris still being the center for fashion today.
“Nationality has never been a necessary component for designers or anyone else who makes things. What Didier Grumbach did is to start a creative movement in Paris that brought people in from all over the world — from all areas of design, textile and other areas of production.
“Didier has always been a gentle man. I have never seen him get angry. He is patient, a hard worker and someone who unselfishly connects people, making them friends. He is beloved by all. He is preparing the next generation through education; I believe that his efforts will certainly blossom, in time. He is a man who prepares for a broader future, not just a moment.”
— Issey Miyake
“It has always been very difficult [to get into the Paris fashion week calendar]. The French are much less welcoming than then Italians. I think that we are still called ‘guests.’
“Paris is and always will be considered the most important of fashion capitals. Didier understood that it would not be wise not to welcome the competition that wanted to show there. I think that [he] did a good job, but it’s not completed.
“Today, talents have access to many platforms in many cities. Showing in Paris can be more expensive for designers, they [could] stay home [instead] and have the same impact.”
— Giancarlo Giammetti, honorary president of Valentino
“Paris was a labyrinth of mirrors before Didier, a sleeping beauty just waiting for Didier’s kiss. Didier is a visionary. He revealed with amazing sensibility the major quality of Paris: to unveil young talent. When I was a part of Createurs and Industriels, Didier was the very first talent scout. He took me to Japan for three huge rock ’n’ roll fashion shows in front of 30,000 people. He always discovered and took care of young talent [without] submitting [to] any powers that be.
“Didier is gentleness, elegance, a visionary, a diplomat, a talent and sprezzatura.”
— Jean-Charles de Castelbajac
“I don’t think I would have been invited to show in Paris if it wasn’t for him. When I came here, it was giant, a new world for me, and I started selling internationally. My business grew four times since then. The French take fashion very seriously, and Paris fashion week is so rich in ideas, also because there is such an eclectic bunch of people. Didier really managed to create a global fashion week. And he was relentless, he didn’t miss a show, and he was always available to you.”
— Manish Arora
“Didier was a lover of the new avant-garde generation. He gave a lot of support to the young people, always looking for a fresh face that could be the next big one, like Chanel or Dior. He is a politician, don’t forget, but he is also in love with creation. That was fantastic for us. It’s hard to believe in yourself when you are a designer, you are scared.
“Also, in France it is very hard to find financial support and he created a fund, the Mode et Finance, which supported my brand and let me grow. I feel lucky to have met him in my life. He is a great human being and a generous man.”
— Anne-Valerie Hash
“I [found] him always interesting and a man who was both passionate about what he did, but kind and understanding. I always felt that he was a very good listener and he’s an outstanding gentleman.
“I thought he was quite knowledgeable and had a sincere feeling of what the U.S. market was. He was able to focus the brands he worked with in terms of understanding and creating for the market. I thought he was instrumental in doing that, and then, as he got into the position of representing French fashion, I think he was a very good communicator.
“Didier was my sponsor for the Légion d’honneur [in 2002].
It was a very high-level honor for me personally, because to be recognized by a country is no small feat. I was pleased because for many, many years I’d been very supportive of French fashion and made certain that the companies I was with had plenty of French fashion to offer their customers.”
— Burt Tansky, vice chairman and managing director, Marvin Traub Associates
“He’s an intellectual but he’s also a businessman.
“Didier has this gift of being at the same time a creator, an innovator and a visionary, too, and having a great knowledge of the market.
“I think that France owes him a lot, because he supported all the houses and was very active in [helping] the industry evolve in terms of development, production and export. He is largely to credit for the position of Paris today as a platform for fashion worldwide.
“He is one of the people who has had the greatest impact on my career in terms of generosity, inspiration and knowledge.”
— Nicole Fischelis, group vice president and fashion director, global forecasting, Macy’s
“I’ve always found him to be a very honorable guy and a very intellectual guy, to the point where sometimes when he would explain the situation, honestly I didn’t understand what he was talking about. I had to step back and go, ‘What did he say? What did he mean?’
“He has a unique way of dissecting a situation and coming to conclusions, and I think what he did is, he would talk through the thinking that was going on in his head as he was answering the question or describing the situation. And so, you had to understand that this is not the answer, this is the thought that’s going on in that very large cranium of his, to get to a decision or a solution or an answer or a point.
“I remember when he was running Mugler, I’ll never forget a conversation with him where he was talking with such passion about the development — this was probably in the Eighties — of the next wave of great young designers. Obviously, he had been involved with so many of them over the years, and he was describing his vision for Mugler, which, at that point, seemed a little crazy in terms of a brand — but honestly, in today’s world, he was right on, because he was talking not only about the brand, but the image of the brand and the ability to align and expand the brand and the positioning of the brand. Quite frankly, back then, no one really talked that way.
“His reach-out on couture to engage new talent, his international reach to try to bring in new talent to the fashion weeks — these are all things that really put Paris firmly on the map as the leading city, not only for fashion, but the leading city where talent wants to live.
“He’s just this extraordinarily kind individual, thoughtful person, with extremely wonderful manners. I mean, he went to every show. If the show was on the calendar, he went to it, if it wasn’t a conflict. People just don’t do that that much, you just don’t see that, especially from a man in his position.”
— Ron Frasch, operating partner, Castanea Partners
“He was really a visionary in terms of international fashion. He introduced new concepts. Didier was talking about showing Paris fashion simultaneously in the U.S. as the shows were taking place in Paris, and he was talking about that 25 years ago. And I think he was also envisioning a point where clothes actually could be bought, if not instantly, but on a much more timely basis than waiting a full six months or for a season to evolve.
“And he was thinking about not just broadcasting to the U.S., but broadcasting around the world, which was again part of his international vision for fashion, and particularly for French fashion.
“Didier was always very outgoing and very welcoming to American retailers. He was absolutely instrumental in Burt Tansky and I receiving the Legion of Honor.
“He’s always been not only a gentleman and a leader, but he’s been a close personal friend.”
— Philip Miller, president of Philip B. Miller Associates
“He has traveled between France and China dozens of times, and has established friendships with the industrial organizations, entrepreneurs, designers, institutes and governments in China.
“Mr. Grumbach opened a window for Chinese fashion circles to know French fashion. He introduced many outstanding fashion designers and brands to China. At the same time, he also generously gave a lot of useful suggestions for the development of China’s fashion industry, and gave help to Chinese fashion designers on the international stage. His contribution to the development of the two countries’ relationship in the fashion industry makes him a respectable person in both the Chinese and French fashion worlds.”
— Du Yuzhou, honorary president, China National Garment Association