Reading fashion magazines or watching programs that show stories about the shows of famous fashion designers, we often hear the word “couture”. It seems to be well known, but if we are asked to explain its meaning, it is unlikely that we will be able to formulate something specific. So what is “couture” and what should clothing be like that proudly bears this status?
Couture: what does it mean?
An explanation of a particular concept, as a rule, begins with clarification of its origin. It is quite expected that the term “couture” has French roots - Haute couture, because any discussion about fashion and everything related to it rarely goes without mentioning this country, which has given the world so many talented fashion designers. Its literal translation is “high sewing.” Today, the phrase “high fashion” can be considered synonymous with this concept. We've sorted out the literal translation, but what does this term actually mean?
Haute couture wardrobe items are clothes that can be called “piece goods,” that is, created according to the sketches of talented fashion designers, usually sewn by hand (or mostly by hand).
Reference. The “father” of haute couture who first introduced this concept is Charles Frederick Worth. He was the first fashion designer who created sketches and cut out outfits for noble ladies using individual measurements. In 1858, the fashion house opened its doors for the first time, where small collections created by Worth began to be demonstrated. By the way, it was he who first began to separate them by seasons. His brainchild and the High Fashion Syndicate - it is this “institution” that to this day unites world-famous brands.
It is probably unnecessary to mention that “couture clothes” are rarely everyday - even celebrities “flaunt” them only at various celebrations. For example, popular actors invited to the Oscars or Golden Globes often parade along the carpet in haute couture clothes.
How clothes achieve haute couture status
Chic, luxurious - these words are often mentioned in relation to haute couture dresses. Only expensive materials and fittings, silhouettes created by masters of their craft - all this, of course, deserves such enthusiastic epithets. But high-quality “raw materials” and exclusivity of the idea are not the only requirements for “couture” clothing.
The rules that allow you to distinguish “high-fashion” outfits from all others were invented by the Syndicate - the same one that was mentioned above. The main ones include:
- a fashion house that “claims” to create haute couture outfits must necessarily “create” in Paris and demonstrate at least two collections a year;
- the “fashion staff” should include at least two dozen people;
- Clothes must be created only according to individual measurements and at least 70% manually.
Reference. “Semi-official couture” is considered to be clothing from expensive brands that comply with the above operating principles, but do not have documentary evidence of their status. That is, the term “haute couture” can be used as a contrast to mass production - pret-a-porter or ready-to-wear.
What fashion houses are “under the wing” of the Syndicate? These include Chanel, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Valentino, Christian Lacroix and some other “fashion giants”.
Why do you need couture clothes?
For clothing brands, creating couture collections is a way of promotion. In this way they demonstrate their vision of fashion, and also form the image of their home. They earn little money on “exclusively expensive” outfits.
As a rule, runway dresses and other clothing items made according to existing requirements according to individual measurements are sold much cheaper (if that word is even applicable here) or end up in a museum or “archives” of a fashion house. At the same time, the expenses for organizing haute couture shows are considerable, and all in order to once again emphasize the prestige of the brand.
Reference. As a rule, couturiers can demonstrate their exclusive clothes only at Haute Couture Week (remember how the assistant in the film “The Devil Wears Prada” mentioned a trip to Paris, where she would wear haute couture outfits and meet all the designers) or at other events around the world scale, for example, the Oscars.
Today, many experts believe that the production of “high-fashion” and expensive items of clothing, most of which no one will ever wear, is at least irrational.Famous brands are criticized for overproduction and “inattention” to environmental issues - instead of, for example, using recycled material, they create new “low-wear” outfits.
Despite all these reasonable arguments, the haute couture outfits shown on the catwalks and worn by celebrities on the red carpet still inspire truly sacred awe. The average, and often low quality of so-called clothing for the mass consumer forces people to purchase wardrobe items again and again, which also aggravates the crisis of overproduction.
Of course, haute couture clothing is accessible to few, but it seems to take us back to the times when wardrobe items were sewn in a single copy and, as they say, “to last forever.” Such outfits, like family jewels, could be passed on by inheritance.
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