In September 1968, Edith Head touched down at Paris’s Orly Airport in the company of Alfred Hitchcock. As one of the director’s vital collaborators, Edith had been given an all-expenses-paid trip to the City of Light to plan the wardrobe for his Cold War thriller Topaz.
Hitchcock had strong views on where he liked to eat and sleep, and he and Edith checked into the luxurious Hotel Plaza Athénée for their short stay. Between hosting wardrobe fittings in her suite for two of the film’s stars, Dany Robin and Claude Jade, she also visited French couturier Balmain to purchase coats, gloves, and bags. It was a sign of the times that Edith’s job was now as much about shopping as designing original pieces. By the late 60s, Hollywood’s wardrobe departments had shrunk from the bustling workrooms of 20 years before, as the studios struggled with dwindling profits.
