The corset was all that was holding her together … January 1939: Sophie Beauvais, winner of a prestigious magazine prize, sails from New York to France. At French Vogue she has a front-row seat to a city at its most glamorous, and finds herself swept into an intoxicating whirl of costume parties and fashion parades. As war clouds darken, Sophie is determined to stay and fight in any way she can to preserve her beloved City of Light as a symbol of beauty, tolerance and love. After Vogue opts to close rather than collaborate, Sophie takes a job as a model-salesgirl for a leading lingerie house. While the crass nouveau riche of Occupied Paris – Nazi mistresses and black-market wives – clamour for her signature piece, a wasp-waisted satin corset from the last pre-war collections, Sophie turns the corset from a restrictive garment into a secret weapon in the fight for liberation. The Parisian Corset is inspired by the true story of French Vogue during World War II, and the mystery of an iconic fashion photograph.
