This simple romantic tragedy begins in 1957. Guy Foucher, a 20-year-old French auto mechanic, has fallen in love with 17-year-old Geneviève Emery, an employee in her widowed mother's chic but financially embattled umbrella shop. On the evening before Guy is to leave for a two-year tour of combat in Algeria, he and Geneviève make love. She becomes pregnant and must choose between waiting for Guy's return or accepting an offer of marriage from a wealthy diamond merchant.

Often imitated, the creations of French couturiers caused a sensation across the Atlantic, but perhaps to the detriment of haute couture... The presentation of Yves Saint-Laurent, the darling of Americans, and the interviews with clients and industrialists highlight the links between ready-to-wear in the United States and French fashion.