Fashion Writer Marylou Luther Receives French Culture Award

Last week in Paris, she received a prestigious honor herself: The French government's Ministry of Culture presented her with the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters. Luther and famed New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham both received the award. (She has known him professionally and as a friend since the late 1950s.)

The award recognizes "eminent artists and writers, and people who have contributed significantly to furthering the arts in France throughout the world." Recent American recipients of the award include Robert Redford and Meryl Streep.

Luther, whose Clothes Lines column has appeared in The Plain Dealer's Style section since the 1980s, is known by designers and fashion writers around the world, not just for her longevity in the business, but because of her immense knowledge and unfailing down-to-earth kindness. When the Chambre Syndicale in Paris gave her a car and driver for Paris Fashion Week, she always offered rides to less-fortunate writers - not the usual practice in the fashion elite.