In fact, Joseph had already begun to lay the groundwork for promoting ready-to-wear clothing before this Fashion Week.
For instance, he made special requests to the designers participating in Fashion Week—asking them to avoid the then-common style of distinct shaping at the chest, waist, and hips during their design process, and instead to approach a smoother transition at the waistline.
Because clothing that emphasizes the chest, waist, and hips—skirts, in particular—has very strict size requirements: two people of similar height and weight can't exchange clothes just because of slight differences in the distance between their chest and waist.
By switching to a smooth transition style, they could produce the same garments for them based on standard sizes.
It so happened that France's designers were searching for inspiration for this season's fashion and greatly admired this somewhat "retro" design style—reminiscent of the long dresses of Ancient Rome—leading many to turn to designing garments with smooth waist transitions.
Of course, this also had a lot to do with the fact that the proponent of the design style was the Crown Prince. After all, Europe's fashion follows France, France's fashion follows Paris, and Paris' fashion follows the Royal Family.
Afterward, Joseph discussed and preliminarily established ready-to-wear clothing size standards with the Lyon Textile Guild—temporarily in five sizes: very small, small, medium, large, and very large, and published the specific requirements for each size for both men's and women's clothing.
After this Fashion Week, Joseph planned to ask the Textile Guild to further refine the size standards and promote them throughout All of France.
Next, the task was to find ways to expand the scale of ready-to-wear production and continuously reduce costs.
Once the cost of ready-to-wear was low enough for ordinary people to afford, there would undoubtedly be many who cared more about style and were not too tight on budget, willing to switch from making their own clothing to buying ready-to-wear.
Joseph knew this would be a difficult process, requiring the coordination of industrial policies, accompanied by new types of textile machines, and powered by Steam Engines to be possible.
It was also necessary to resolve the issue of the Land Aristocracy, eliminate feudal privileges, and liberate a large number of tenant farmers to provide industrial labor.
"Tough," Joseph sighed with a wry smile.
...
"Congratulations, my dear Mr. Walsh!"
In front of an unfinished villa on the east side of the Tuileries Palace Gardens, under the watchful eyes of over a dozen tall and handsome salesmen, the sales manager solemnly handed a set of keys and the house deed to Walsh:
"From this moment, you officially become the noble owner of 'Royal Palace Gardens'! From now on, I'm afraid your biggest worry might be the excess of envious glances thrown your way," said the sales manager.
Immediately, cheerful music began to play, and beautiful girls came forward to present flowers to Walsh, followed by a Priest saying prayers for the new home...
In short, the ceremony was full of pomp, attracting countless passersby to stop and watch.
Yes, in the end, Mr. Walsh could not resist the temptation and spent 2050 British Pounds to buy a house in the Royal Palace Gardens.
The main reason was that he had learned through his channels that France was going to develop the ready-to-wear industry vigorously, which would significantly increase the demand for wool textiles.
And he was precisely a wool merchant. Buying a house in Paris to expand his business in France was perfect.
Of course, another reason was— the price of houses in the Royal Palace Gardens was soaring by the day!
The house he bought was priced at 50,000 livres, or 2000 British Pounds, just three days ago, and in the blink of an eye, it had risen to 2050 British Pounds.
This made him regret his hesitation from a few days prior.
When he heard from the sales staff that the price would continue to rise in a few days, he could no longer hold back and decided to buy a house on the spot!
Mrs. Walsh was even more delighted. From the moment she arrived in Paris, she fell completely in love with the city—clean, comfortable, tidy, filled with a fashionable atmosphere, plus convenient horse-drawn public transport.
Right, and that extremely reassuring security!
The policemen patrolling the streets of Paris, each with an imposing presence, never extorted foreigners or vendors. In cases of theft or robbery, they would even rush in and enforce the law on the spot. In London, British policemen would have long vanished at such events unless the victim happened to be a personage of noble rank.
Of course, she had no idea that just a few months prior, Paris's policemen were no different from their British counterparts—this was a new atmosphere brought about by the Crown Prince's police reforms.
Mrs. Walsh had already sent a letter to their darling son in London the night before, asking him to bring his fiancée to Paris for a vacation. Once they returned, it would surely give them plenty to boast about in social circles for a long time.
...
March 19, 1788.
The Paris Fashion Week that shook all of Europe finally drew to a close. After a spectacular event, it left behind endless memories of revelry and the intoxicating luxury of the Tuileries Palace.
Immediately after, the Paris Fashion Art Exhibition officially opened.
This art exhibition was primarily to showcase French designers—only by making a name for them could the world embrace Parisian fashion more fully.
During the five days of the art exhibition, designers from all over Europe would be invited to come and judge the Designer of the Year, and to present them with the "Golden Feather Award."
And on the same day, another very important event occurred—a matter not widely known—
That was the "French Royal Arsenal" completing all its preparatory work and officially beginning production.
On the southeast side of Versailles Palace Square, just outside the Sycamore Grove, there was a small courtyard enclosed by a stone wall, a hundred meters square. Inside the courtyard, there was a crucible furnace for smelting iron, and about ten wooden sheds of various sizes.
At that moment, Joseph stood in front of the main gate of the courtyard, where a stone stele read "Royal Armory," bowing deeply to the retreating figure of Louis XVI.
Just now, he had accompanied His Majesty the King to the armory's opening ceremony. His father must have been overjoyed, for he had, exceptionally, delivered a speech of up to five sentences in public, and had hardly stuttered at all.
Of course, this was after all the factory that he had invested in and was mass-producing the weapons he had developed, and even the main craftsmen had been trained by him, so it was only natural to be a little happier.
After seeing off his father, Joseph turned back and looked at the two core managers of the armory, ready to get down to serious business.
"Mr. Gaman, may I ask how much the current output is?"
An elder with a flat nose, two large bags under his eyes, but exceptionally bright small eyes, immediately bowed and said:
"Your Highness, at present, we can make three caplock guns a day, but we will soon be able to increase that to four."
The armory's current product line consisted solely of the Auguste 1788 model caplock gun.
Upon hearing this, Joseph immediately frowned—four guns a day meant 120 a month, and the annual output would not even be enough to equip an infantry regiment...
He had indeed kept the armory relatively small in scale—after conducting an on-site survey, he found that not just Versailles, but even the whole of Paris, lacked the supporting industries necessary for weapon production. For example, steelmaking, rough woodworking, screws, belts, etc., could not be supplied.
Therefore, he decided to build only a "demonstration factory" near the Palace of Versailles to train craftsmen and carry out small-scale production. A larger-scale armory construction was already underway in Saint-Etienne, which should be completed next month.
Still, even for a "demonstration factory," wasn't this production level a little too low?
He walked with the two managers toward the interior of the courtyard and asked casually:
"Mr. Gaman, is it possible to increase the output in a short time? Like... ten guns a day?"
The locksmith teacher of Louis XVI, who was also the current technical supervisor of the armory, immediately shook his head and said:
"Your Highness, you see, His Majesty has barely rested since he came here a month ago, and it has been with great difficulty that four craftsmen have mastered the manufacturing process of the caplock gun. Oh, and that includes me."
He had participated in the development of the caplock gun on the spot and needed no training.
"Now the four of us also have to teach apprentices, and we're busy until late at night just to rush out a single firearm."
He didn't mention that the barrels used in the caplock guns were custom rough blanks ordered directly from Charleville; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to complete even one gun a day.
Joseph frowned again, puzzled:
"Why not involve all the other craftsmen in the manufacturing, with you four supervising and instructing them?"
You see, Louis XVI had poached 16 high-level gunsmiths for his armory from other places, and there were as many as 50 mid- to low-level craftsmen. If all these people got to work, the production capacity surely wouldn't be so dismal.
Gaman said helplessly, "Your Highness, the caplock gun's process differs greatly from that of the flintlock gun, especially the barrel and firing mechanism. Each step needs to be mastered and practiced repeatedly to produce a qualified gun."
Joseph immediately detected a logical issue in his words, "That is to say, aside from the barrel and firing mechanism, the rest is similar to the flintlock gun?"
"Er, that is indeed the case."
"Then let you four be responsible for making the barrels and firing mechanisms. Have the others make the other parts. Then assemble them together. Wouldn't that greatly increase the speed?"
"Your Highness, I'm afraid that might not be possible." Before Gaman could say anything, the short middle-aged man with brown curly hair beside him chimed in, "Each craftsman's technical habits and characteristics are quite different, and only the parts they make can guarantee a perfect fit when assembled together."
Gaman immediately nodded in agreement:
"Mr. Martinier is right. Even the craftsmen's apprentices would find it hard to make something identical to what their masters produce."
Joseph couldn't help but hold his forehead, realizing he had forgotten that it was still the time of the handicraft industry and the concept of standardized parts production didn't yet exist. Not until the early 19th century did the concept of standard parts begin to emerge, and it took another 20 years before it was actually applied in production...
As for the assembly line production model that required standardized parts as a prerequisite technology, there was no need to even think about it.
He sighed and looked at the manager and technical director in front of him:
"Then, let's try to change this situation. There is a production method called 'component standardization.'"
The two directors glanced at each other, both showing confusion: "Component standardization?"
"Yes," Joseph nodded, "To put it simply, when different craftsmen produce the same firearms, they must strictly adhere to the parts standard set in advance."
"From shape, materials, dimensions, and other aspects, you cannot exceed the tolerance range. Oh, what tolerance is, I will explain to you in a moment."
"So that no matter who manufactures the parts, they can be freely interchangeable."
"How could that be possible?!" Gaman and Martinier exclaimed in unison.
Joseph took the two into the office, motioned for them to sit down, and said seriously:
"It is absolutely achievable. Of course, it requires some methods. First of all, we need to create a set of more precise measuring tools."
Gaman immediately said, "You mean, like a screw micrometer?"
"Yes," Joseph nodded. "Then, you need to lead the most skilled craftsmen to set the 'production process standards,' 'product execution standards,' 'quality inspection standards,' and other standards for the caplock gun, and even the positions where the tools are placed should have a unified standard."
"Oh, I will have someone write these standards into detailed documents and give them to you later," Joseph continued, "Once the standards are set, we must conduct uniform training for the craftsmen."
"Everyone must use the same tools in making parts, measure in the same way, and strictly operate according to various standard documents. We strictly prohibit any changes to the process based on personal preference."
"The completed parts will be given to those specifically responsible for quality control to measure, and if they exceed the tolerance, the parts will be discarded."
"Parts produced in this way, from the material to the dimensions, would be almost exactly the same. Ultimately, even if the parts are given to workers who are not technically skilled, they can still assemble them into a qualified flintlock gun."
The two directors suddenly widened their eyes—the crown prince's method sounded unbelievable, but upon closer consideration, it seemed very feasible.
If produced in this way, only a small number of craftsmen familiar with all the processes would be needed to establish the standards, while other craftsmen could simply follow the standards step by step.
It was easy to imagine that production speed would greatly increase, and training craftsmen would become much simpler!
How had the crown prince come up with such a marvelous method? The child of divine favor was indeed worthy of the name!
Joseph then briefly explained concepts like "tolerance" and "quality control" to them, and finally said:
"The craftsmen might not easily accept the new production model. In the initial stage of implementation, output might even decrease, but as long as we persevere, we will surely greatly improve production efficiency."
"I will work with you during this time to establish all the production standards and help you with the training of the craftsmen."
Joseph suddenly thought that perhaps he should also implement a standardization system at the machine tool factory, steam engine factory, and other factories, and even introduce national product standards.
However, this would involve the issue of standardizing measurement units.
You see, in France at the moment, no matter whether you're measuring length or weight, the units used are extremely varied; even with the same unit "meter," craftsmen in the south and the north of France would measure different results.
Of course, this applied even more so to other European countries.
And if one wanted to promote industrialization at the national level, unifying measurement standards was the most basic requirement.