With Taxi Strike Paralysing Paris Menswear, Does France Fear Innovation?

PARIS, France — As the Paris men's shows got underway this week, showgoers coming from abroad were in for a rude awakening. Not only were many people delayed by the ongoing strikes by truck drivers near the port of Calais, but striking taxi drivers had completely encircled the main Parisian airports and train stations, preventing cars from servicing the city's key transport hubs. All of this is due to Paris taxi drivers' ongoing dispute with Uber — the fast-growing Silicon Valley-based company, reportedly valued at $50 billion — which has disrupted the taxi market in Paris after decades of a virtual monopoly.

When I arrived at the Gare du Nord, the normally busy area just outside the station was completely void of vehicles, but there were hundreds of passengers dragging their suitcases, trying to find a way to their destinations in the absence of taxis or Uber cars. I had managed to connect with an Uber driver in advance and arranged to meet him outside the area of the taxi siege, but when he arrived he was physically harassed and scared away by a gang of four taxi drivers, who then proceeded to scream and shout at me until I played dumb and walked away, still dragging my luggage and looking for a way to my hotel.

Eventually, I managed to meet another Uber driver in a secret alley and get away unscathed. We were lucky. Other Uber drivers had their windows smashed and were physically attacked. Rock goddess Courtney Love live-tweeted her whole terrifying experience, saying, "They've ambushed our car and are holding our driver hostage. They're beating the cars with metal bats. This is France? I'm safer in Baghdad."

Only in Paris would it be acceptable (or logical) for taxi drivers to go on strike and block train stations and airports and think it would create support for them amongst the public. Harassing Uber drivers who are just trying to do their jobs and haranguing customers who should have the right to choose how they get around only does their cause a disservice. Instead of inconveniencing a whole city, they should offer a better service, use technology and get with the times.

When I recounted my situation on Instagram, the response from the BoF community came fast and furious.

"Think about the people that have to live with that nonsense everyday," commented Le Monde's Carine Bizet.

"Absolutely typical of the French Government who do not acknowledge the fashion industry as something REAL," added Lady Amanda Harlech, muse to Karl Lagerfeld.

Indeed, not only was it a terrible start to Fashion Week, it also made me wonder about what is happening generally in France — one of the most important nodes in the global fashion industry — and the country’s archaic and self-defeating approach to innovation and change.

“There is no excuse,” said François Hollande at an EU summit in Brussels on Friday. “It is unbearable for the victims and it is unbearable for the image of our country.” Still, the French government seemed to tacitly condone the strikes and maintained its position that Uber's controversial UberPop service, which relies on a network of unlicensed drivers, is illegal.

On reflection, everybody might have got what they wanted, except the end customer. Paris' notorious taxi drivers got global media attention, in part because they attacked Courtney Love, while Uber drivers that managed to find passengers under the cloak of secrecy earned 1.9x the normal taxi fares.

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