Haute cou·ture
/ˌōt ko͞oˈto͝or/
noun
: the houses or designers that create exclusive and often trend-setting fashions for women
Many people believe that haute couture simply means that a garment is handmade. While this is somewhat true, it’s a very vague, easily misinterpreted definition of the word.
So what else does it mean?
Haute couture means “fashion that is constructed by hand from start to finish, made from high quality, expensive, often unusual fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable sewers, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques.”. There’s so much more to the term than simply hand-made, and these other details are what give items that are considered haute couture so much prestige in the eyes of fashion lovers.
In 1858, English couturier Charles Frederick Worth established the first haute couture house in Paris. He is considered by many to be the father of haute couture. Charles made exclusive luxury fashion for upper-class women and created the term 'fashion designer' stating he was creating art, not just a dressmaker. He made many fashion innovations including reducing the ever increasing crinoline and shortening the hem on dresses. This was also called a walking skirt.
In 1868, Le Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture was established. In France, the term haute couture is protected by law and is defined by the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Paris based in Paris. Designers are required to earn the right to label themselves a couture house according to certain specifications. These were later outlined in 1945 and updated again in 1992. The Chambre Syndicale de la haute couture is defined as "the regulating commission that determines which fashion houses are eligible to be true haute couture houses". The phrase “haute couture” (literally, ‘high sewing’) was coined by the Chambre Syndicale in 1908.
The French press created PAIS (L'Association de Protection des Industries Artistiques Saisonnieres), in a bid to protect individual haute couture designs from piracy in 1921. Designs were photographed on a mannequin, front, back, and side, and registered as evidence.
In 1945, new specifications of Le Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture were established:
• Designs must be made-to-order for private clients, with one or more fittings
• Each atelier must have at least 20 members of staff
• Each season, the couture house must present a collection of at least 35 runs with both daytime and evening wear to the Paris press.
These rules are still in place today.
1947, France's fashion industry was successfully revived from wartime severity with Christian Dior's 'New Look' collection. Dubbed Corelle, after the botanical term for the frail petals in the center of a flower, the collection featured a new-found glamour in the shape of tight waists, stiff petticoats, and billowing skirts.
1966: Yves Saint Laurent launched Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, the first freestanding couture boutique. Pierre Cardin, Andre Courreges, Ted Lapidus and Emanuel Ungaro soon followed suit in opening their own stores.
The number of couture houses dropped to just 19 in 1970 (there were 106 in 1946). Many designers attributed blame to the strict rules from Le Chambre Syndicale de La Haute Couture, demanding conditions unsustainable after the war when mass-production was popular and couture clientele diminishing.
Because of the insane amount of time given to each garment, couture is not cheap. Couture pieces will cost you anywhere from $10,000, with evening gowns start at $60,000 and can cost as much as $100,000.
The market for haute couture isn’t that big. It is reported that about 2,000 women worldwide purchase haute couture and of those 2,000, only 200 are regular buyers. With such a huge price tag it's not hard to see why. The main buyers of Haute Couture today are no longer French socialites, but buyers from Russia, China, and the Middle East. Fine clothing items can escalate in value over the years and are often regarded as collectors’ items, making for a clever, but costly investment.