Haute couture. What is “haute couture”? Haute Couture Collection by Valentino
About high fashion Haute Couture and those who create it
When, many years ago, I first came into close contact with the world of fashion, I was intrigued by the unusual word “couturier,” which was pronounced with special respect. At that time, no one could really explain to me who the “couturiers” were, and what exactly “haute couture” fashion was. I had to figure it out myself, it turned out that not everything was as simple as it seemed! But now, I can tell you in detail and thoroughly about who these mysterious couturiers are, and why just this word makes models’ knees begin to buckle with excitement!
If you start looking for the answer to the question: who are “couturiers” on the Internet, or just ask your friends, you will most likely receive an answer something like “these are fashion designers.” In fact, few people know the correct answer to this question. On the one hand, that’s right, these are fashion designers, on the other hand, these are special fashion designers who stand apart from everyone else. In addition, I have witnessed more than once when local clothing designers, the press and fans were proudly called, for example, “Ukrainian couturier.” This is fundamentally wrong, and even partly funny, now you will understand why.
The fact is that the title of “couturier” can only be worn by French fashion designers, and more precisely, by Parisian Fashion Houses. In 1868, a certain Charles Frederick Worth, who is considered the first “couturier,” founded the High Fashion Syndicate, the rules of which spelled out the requirements for “couture fashion.” So, according to the rules, as already mentioned, only Parisian Fashion Houses, which had at least 20 people on staff, and held shows of new collections (at least 35 models) twice a year, could bear the title “haute couture”. And most importantly, such models of clothing, shoes, accessories had to consist of 70% self made! By the way, the word “couturier” itself comes from the French “couturiere” - dressmaker.
To understand the very essence of couture fashion, you need to go back to history. Thus, Charles Frederick Worth was the first fashion designer to change the “rules of the game” in the fashion industry. If earlier, rich ladies, ordering tailoring, themselves dictated their wishes regarding style, cut, materials, etc., then Worth began to make handmade things at his own discretion and demonstrate them on models. And wealthy clients, in turn, evaluated the clothes on the models and chose what they liked. Since then, another fundamental rule has not changed - haute couture clothing is created in a single copy, or, in extreme cases, in a very limited quantity.
Over time, not only French designers wanted to receive the highest title of “couturier”, so an exception was made for some foreign companies and fashion designers. In general, they are not full-fledged “Haute Couture”, but something like corresponding members of the High Fashion Syndicate. Thus, not only a representative of the Paris Fashion House, but also other recognized designers can be called “couturier”. But it’s worth remembering that there are still very few of them all over the world! All couturiers are famous people, for example, let's name a few of the most famous names and brands: Givenchy, Balmain, Chanel, Cristian Dior, Kenzo, Karl Lagerfeld, Louis Vuitton, Paco Rabanne, Gianni Versace and others.
Taking part in a haute couture show is every model’s dream! Haute Couture fashion shows are considered the most prestigious in the modeling industry. To get there you need to go through a successful professional path as a model, have the appropriate experience and parameters. But if your portfolio includes work for Valentino, Lanvin, Elie Saab, etc., then almost any door in the modeling business will be open!
1
What is couture and who wears it?
Singer Beyoncé on the Met Gala 2015 carpet in New York
It’s easy to guess that couture is not a universal phenomenon, since it is worn exclusively on red carpets and “hanged out” on catwalks. The name haute couture literally means “high sewing”; in practice, this means that couture lines are sewn by the best professionals in the industry, and by hand. Each dress is completely unique because it is truly created according to the figure of a specific person. Sewing one model can take from one to ten weeks. Couture is worn by the most privileged class of our society: movie stars, leaders of music charts, top models, the political elite and editors-in-chief of fashion magazines.
2 How beautiful clothes becomes couture?
Maria Grazia Chiuri
It’s not difficult to sew something large and expensive if you have the materials. But achieving haute couture status is not a task for beginners. A fashion house literally needs to petition if it wants to have a prefix of two French words and a pass to the world of truly Haute Couture. First, the candidate must be approved by the French Ministry of Industry according to the criteria that are sent to fashion house. If the brand meets the requirements of the ministry, then it is allowed to create, under strict supervision and with annual taxes.
3 How much is the cheapest and most expensive haute couture dress?
The starting price for the dress is €9,000. Outfits that have been on the runway may cost less because they are not made to the client's measurements. The price of the most expensive haute couture outfit will remain a mystery to all of us. The most expensive item in couture always remains wedding dress, its cost can reach hundreds of thousands of euros. The price depends on the materials used and the hours spent on production.
4 The main profit of the brand is from the couture line?
Gisele Bündchen, 2014
Despite sky-high prices, high fashion is not considered a profitable business. This, naturally, is due to the global crisis; not all fashion houses could afford to produce couture before. Most well-known brands lose money on these collections and often sell them at market value, at a loss to themselves. A real goldmine for any brand - in leather goods, perfumes and cosmetics. For example, the net profit of clothes from Chanel in the crisis year of 2015 amounted to $1.34 billion, and income from the sale of cosmetics amounted to $2.6 billion. Of course, it is cheaper to buy perfume or cream rather than a dress as a gift on March 8th.
5 Why then organize luxury shows if it is so unprofitable?
Fashion designers spend huge amounts of money per show—the average fashion show costs $40,000—to display clothes that no one will buy. The show itself is not started for the purpose of commercial gain, but for the purpose of PR, for prestige. In principle, a fashion show is a demonstration of the designer’s vision of the collection he has created; we are invited to watch the show and understand the purpose of the item. Each collection has a theme, for example, Dior this year presented models in the aesthetics of avant-garde art and held an entire ball with waiters who were completely painted to look like clouds. Models from the Chanel Haute Couture collection will not be sold complete with a veil with roses on the top of the head and Kaia Gerber to boot - everyone will forget about her, and the dress will go to the boutique.
6 Are there countries where the demand for luxury clothing is highest?
Meryl Streep ("Florence Foster Jenkins", "Florence Foster Jenkins")
Oddly enough, yes. China, Middle Eastern countries, mainly the UAE, and India. Essentially, the real competition between haute couture brands comes into focus when a major award or ceremony such as the Oscars or the Met Gala Ball approaches. Brands are vying with each other to offer stars clothes to wear on the carpet and after parties, and from time to time this provokes unpleasant incidents. Actress Meryl Streep was involved in such a situation before last year's Oscar ceremony. Initially, its representatives agreed with the management of the Chanel brand to sew a dress worth €100 thousand, but when the production process had already started, the order was canceled - according to Karl Lagerfeld, in addition to the cost of the dress, which is considered a gift, the fashion house demanded money for going out him into the world. As a result, the actress shone in a dress by Lebanese couturier Elie Saab, Lagerfeld was offended, Streep demanded an apology for slander and did not receive one.
7 Do you need to buy couture and then sell it for crazy money?
Jean-Paul Gaultier and "queen of burlesque" Dita von Teese at the Week high fashion in Paris, 2014
You can buy, wear, keep, pass on, and throw away couture clothing if you can afford it. For a lot of money, most likely, you will buy it in a boutique - it is customary in the fashion industry to invest in vintage. But it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to sell an outfit from last year’s Zuhair Murad collection for crazy amounts of money – of course, unless you’re Madonna or Margot Robbie. If you look at it, even the most expensive clothes needed for wear and pleasure, so if the opportunity to wear haute couture does not present itself soon, you can always enjoy the outfits on the catwalks.
haute couture
- Wed several High fashion.
- adj. unism. Associated with high fashion, characteristic of it.
Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language of the 21st century
haute couture
Made by a famous fashion designer, often exclusive, related to high fashion (about a piece of clothing, an outfit, etc.).
* A couture outfit, as a rule, is several times more expensive, but it guarantees that the graduate’s dress will be one and only. (NI 11.05.07).
The famous rock vocalist was on stage; he lent his voice to some of Deep Purple's iconic hits; The symphony orchestra, as announced, played along with Gillan. But the taste of something consumer goods instead of a haute couture product was felt from the overture to the finale. (Izv. 12/21/09). *
Є fr. haute couture letters"high fashion".
Encyclopedia of fashion and clothing
haute couture
(French haute couture - lit. high sewing) - sewing art on high level. The expression came into use in the second half of the 19th century. Haute couture houses and companies produced unique suits at very high prices, distinguished by exquisite taste and originality of style. They created models that were not designed to be repeated, but for a narrow circle of private clients who came to fashion shows from all continents. Twice a year these firms organized demonstrations and exhibitions of models for the press and 45-50 times for private clients. The founder of “haute couture” is considered to be an Englishman, a talented tailor, Charles Frederick Worth, who came to Paris in 1845, and fifteen years later became the uncrowned king of Parisian fashion. Bort was the first to come up with the idea of putting on public display a series of models for various occasions of social life.
Along with reputable haute couture firms that have established themselves in the international fashion arena, such as Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Nina Ritchie, Pierre Cardin, Andre Courrèges, a number of new companies have appeared that gained popularity in recent years. These are the companies "Montana", "Claude", "Jean Paul Gaultier", "Givenchy", "J. Versace" and others.
(Terminological dictionary of clothing. Orlenko L.V., 1996)
Most terms related to fashion and sewing are of French origin. Paris's record as a fashion dictator inspires respect. The terms haute couture and pret-a-porter are often used. It’s worth looking at them in a little more detail.
“Haute couture” is the art of sewing of the highest quality. In a narrower sense, it is the unique creativity of the leading Parisian fashion salons, which set the tone in international fashion. This is French haute couture. Naturally, “high fashion” exists in other countries, as, for example, in Italy - alta moda. “Haute couture” also includes individual unique models that are produced in famous fashion salons according to the client’s order.
"Ready-to-wear" means "ready to wear." The clothing models included in this group are produced in large quantities and sold in small boutique stores belonging to high fashion fashion salons, as well as large department stores. The price difference between a couture model from a fashion salon and a ready-to-wear model from the same company is significant. “Pret-a-porter” is also the name for clothing models created outside fashion salons for mass production, which were previously called confection - ready-made dress. This name usually corresponds to that part of mass production in which the fashion of the current moment is most acutely manifested and which is not produced in huge quantities, like ordinary unified mass products.
The concept of “haute couture” appeared in the middle of the 19th century, when the first fashion salons in the modern sense arose and fashion designers appeared, often surrounded by a mystical aura. There is no doubt that these sorcerers, who created masterpieces from silk, velvet, lace and pearls, aimed primarily at high-ranking ladies. One of the most striking personalities of the era of crinolines was the Englishman Worth, who conquered Parisian society and even Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III, with his ideas. Thanks to her countless toilets, Evgenia went down in fashion history. The origin of “high fashion” is associated with the name of Worth.
The fantastic creations of Worth and his colleagues were rated so highly not only because of their expensive materials and excellent execution. The most important thing was the name of the creator, who, by “signing” the dress, made it a work of art, and the owner of this toilet ensured a high position in society. In 1868, the Paris Committee of the Garment Industry Trade Union was created, which to this day unites the most prominent fashion salons and firms in Paris and resolves legal issues related to fashion. But fashion was still not recognized as an art with equal rights among others. Only in 1943 was a law passed under which fashion designers received equal rights with literary and artistic workers.
After Worth, the banner of “high fashion” passed to other fashion designers. It was necessary to have enormous talent in order to be able to reflect the ideas of his time in clothing, to shape the appearance of a woman (and a man) according to his ideal. At the beginning of the 20th century, Poiret reigned in decadent salons. His fiery orange and purple oriental sketches showed modernist flexibility and drama. For almost half a century, the legendary Madame Chanel guessed the desires of women. In the 20s, she dressed women in ordinary gray, black and beige shirtdresses, knitted pullovers and cardigans, decorated them with fake jewelry, and allowed them to wear chintz dresses, which before that were only worn by maids. She immortalized her name with Chanel No. 5 perfume, and in the 50s she gave her admirers the famous Chanel suit.
In the 30s, Madame Vione and Madame Schiapareli crossed swords in the arena of “high fashion”. The first of them promoted the diagonal cut of the dress, the second introduced square shoulders, which for 15 years were considered a mandatory element in clothing. Only in 1947 did Christian Dior abandon them and thereby cause a real revolution in fashion. The silhouette proposed by Dior, with an accentuated waist and a long, loose skirt, was diametrically opposed to the then dominant short and angular silhouette and obviously corresponded to the post-war ideals of women. In 1955, the sensational “robsak”, that is, a bag dress, appeared. In the 60s, the miniskirt made a splash and set the tone in fashion for ten years. The name Andre Courage is closely associated with the miniskirt. An architect by training, he also sought to introduce constructive elements, light colors, and geometric surfaces into clothing, believing that he was creating the fashion of the future. In the 60s and 70s, without a doubt, Yves Saint Laurent's models enjoyed the greatest success. In his collections one can feel the influence of abstract art, nostalgic mood, gypsy romance, military uniforms, the sands of the Sahara and the steppes of Kyrgyzstan. But along with fantasy, he also offers classics.
The French art of fashion, with its traditions and history, has always been a vibrant spectacle, attracting large numbers of reporters, film stars and wealthy buyers.