Nobel laureate Philippe Aghion says creative upbringing shaped his vision of innovation and freedom

By OLEG CETINIC and JOHN LEICESTER
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — France’s Nobel economics laureate Philippe Aghion reflected Monday on the creative roots that shaped his award-winning ideas about innovation and growth.

Aghion paid homage to his family lineage, particularly his mother, Gaby Aghion, who founded the fashion house Chloé, after he was awarded the Nobel memorial prize in economics on Monday. The 69-year-old economics professor’s mother was credited with pioneering Parisian ready-to-wear as a freer, more feminine alternative to haute couture.

“I grew up with innovators. I mean, she (my mother) invented luxury ready-to-wear,” Aghion said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press from his apartment in Paris’ Latin Quarter. He shared this year’s prize with Joel Mokyr of Northwestern University and Peter Howitt of Brown University for research that redefined how technological change drives prosperity.

Nearby, a table piled with books on art and liberty reflected the world that continues to inspire his pursuit of economic freedom.

“Before, there was all haute couture but luxury ready-to-wear didn’t exist,” Aghion said. “So in fact, with Chloé, she invented that. She had a vision of how women should be free and she should not change clothes four times a day. She had a vision of free, of emancipated women.”

Aghion recalled a childhood surrounded by artists — including designer Karl Lagerfeld, who “used to do my homework in German.”