Haute Couture is a French originated word. Haute and couture has a different meaning and the wordplay is tremendous. Haute is a French word and means high while couture simply means a dress making in French. Haute couture amalgamated defines as the high end fashion that is hand fabricated from the top portion of the dress to the bottom portion. These attires are so exclusive that the materials elected needs to be of the best quality. Since its hand sewed, it is a very time consuming procedure. It is produced from high standard, expensive and often unauthentic fabric. Lack of attention can deny its precision which will cause its rejection to feature in the fashion shows held (Paris Haute Couture Fashion week is the most anticipated fashion calendar).
These are exclusive garments and thus, served to specific clients. The sewers are very much experienced and capable and hand executed techniques are bound to be up to the mark. Haute couture garments are specifically made for one customer depending on their required measurements and body posture. By reflecting on the number of hours, money and skills called for we can premeditate that these attires don’t have any relevance to price tag. In France, Haute Couture has a lot of significance as it’s a tradition which uplifts their fashion. The name is lawfully preserved which means no well-established firms or industry can use this name to produce products of their own genre.
19th century English citizen Charles Frederick Worth is accredited as the father of Haute Couture. The Englishman had a unique manner of working. He would grant his clients the time to select their color, fabric and other measurements before he started sewing those. Although he was an English man he carried out his profession in Paris and that’s why this vogue is originated in France. Since, the term Haute Couture is lawfully preserved not all the fashion houses can produce it. Today the fashion houses are selected as members by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture (Haute Couture ‘’circle’’ is very elitist and not all fashion houses can be labelled as Haute Couture Houses). Chambre Syndicale (They now have 18 members including Dior and Chanel) is a consortium of Parisian countries recognized in 1868 during medieval times. It was a monitoring association which decided which fashion houses were eligible to produce dresses assembled with Haute Couture. They looked into various aspects such as faking of their styles, dates of fashion shows, number of models available, relation with media, questions related to law and its authority and promotional works. The formation of this association was done by none other than the father of Haute Couture, Charles Frederick Worth.
To be entitled as a producer of Haute Couture garments the fashion houses had to agree with a few conditions. The conditions are summed up below:
- Design made to order for private clients with one or more fittings.
- Have a workshop at Paris that hires at least 15 full time members.
- Have at least 20 full time technicians hired in at least one workshop.
- Present a collection of at least 50 original designs to the public every fashion season (twice in January and July of each year) of both day and evening garments.
Travelling back in time allows us to know where it began. Paris was always the home of fashion. Back then, transportation had improved and travelling had become easier. This meant that rich women from other states and countries could travel and buy their clothes and accessories. Paris garments were second to none and their exquisite designs were better compared to other places. Rose Bertin and Queen Marie Antoinette, the French designers must be given a lot of appreciation to have actually instill the fashion sense in the French culture. Worth did revolutionize the system and produced an album of designs in his time. He had made a name for himself and people still remember him for his master class. His designs were later portrayed through the models on the House of the Worth. Worth was couturier which meant an industry or person involved in the clothing line who makes original garments in order for private clients. A couturier makes Haute Couture garments. He has to recruit weavers, sewers and technicians to be able to carry out this process. Fashion houses for instance Callot Soeurs, Patou, Poiret, Vionnet, Fortuny, Lanvin, and Chanel and many more followed the footsteps directed by Charles Frederick Worth. They started making Haute Couture attires under new aged leadership.
Modern day Haute Couture garments are not prepared to show and sell but to increase the overall brand value of a company. Its elegance speaks for itself and attracts everyone. For all the fashion houses operating now, custom clothing is no more a source of income for them but as mentioned earlier it just adds up the beauty of fashion more than the revenue.
Haute Couture is a valuable fashion trend for us today as well. A transition has occurred over the years but the tradition is still very much alive and maintained in the French Culture. In present day, there are very specific regular customers (around 2000 people) who still purchase the Haute Couture garments.
