Comment Brigitte Macron a sauvé un million d’euros pour l’Institut français de la mode

PARIS — Here are the heavyweights of French fashion relieved, a far cry from their anger this winter, when, at the height of budget negotiations, Bercy removed the subsidy from the French Fashion Institute (IFM) to save money. Six months later, the management of the IFM learned that the school will finally receive half of its grant, or almost a million euros. “Many of us were screaming,” says a representative of the sector, delighted with the government’s backpedaling.

This recovery does not fall from the sky: it is due to the personal intervention of Brigitte Macron, POLITICO learned from three people familiar with the matter. The alert was given by Sidney Toledano, special advisor to Bernard Arnault at LVMH and president of the IFM, who complained directly about this budget cut to the First Lady after a Dior fashion show in January. Before talking to him about it again at the Elysée, during a medal ceremony a few weeks later. The message was immediately transmitted to Emmanuel Macron, then immediately passed on to the ministries. Meetings from Toledano to Bercy and Matignon finally convinced the general management of companies to resurrect the subsidy. The president's wife, like Roland Lescure (Economy) and Sébastien Lecornu, were among the good Samaritans cited by Toledano when he announced the good news to the school's board of directors. The decision was formalized just before the vote on the finance law, adopted on February 19. After “a V0 where we estimated that the IFM could absorb” the cut, we summarize from Bercy, the Ministry of the Economy “recovered some room for maneuver, studied who it wanted to prioritize”. To finally settle on “a significant amount, certainly, but to be put into perspective”. The announcement was met with ire and surprise from the fashion federations at the start of the debates on the 2026 budget. For the record, the Ministry of the Economy had also reduced funding for Défi, the economic development body for the sector. "The IFM works very well, and given the state's finances, it is not illogical to question the subsidy.

Key points

• This recovery does not fall from the sky: it is due to the personal intervention of Brigitte Macron, POLITICO learned from three people familiar with the matter.
• The alert was given by Sidney Toledano, special advisor to Bernard Arnault at LVMH and president of the IFM, who complained directly about this budget cut to the First Lady after a Dior fashion sho…
• Before talking to him about it again at the Elysée, during a medal ceremony a few weeks later.
• The message was immediately transmitted to Emmanuel Macron, then immediately passed on to the ministries.
• Meetings from Toledano to Bercy and Matignon finally convinced the general management of companies to resurrect the subsidy.