OK, here's a quick quiz for you: what's the difference between a genuine French beret and impostors? If you answered (a) made from wool, (b) weatherproof and (c) includes a leather interior ring to snugly fit one's head, you win. If you added (d) doesn't smell when wet, you get extra credit. (I suppose you can use that in the afterlife.)
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| Image: laulhere-france.com |
According to a Bloomberg News story picked up by the Chicago Tribune, the traditional, authentic "made in France" beret is in danger of becoming commercially extinct. Only one manufacturer --
Laulhere -- remains from a once-thriving industry. France's issue is that cheaper Asian competitors produce berets for a fraction of what the real thing costs. (Full disclosure: I own two black impostor berets.)
The notion of a Frenchman or Frenchwoman wearing a cheap beret made 10,000 miles from Paris is a tough one to swallow. The French have historically protected firms from foreign acquisition. The government also subsidizes "strategic corporations," such as its aerospace enterprises. Sometimes national pride has a price. Is it time for the French government to protect a symbol of its Gallic identity?
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