Information about Haute Couture

Haute couture (French for "high sewing" or "high dressmaking"; IPA: [ˌoːt kuˈtyʁ]) refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted fashions. It originally referred to Englishman Charles Frederick Worth's work, produced in Paris in the mid-nineteenth century. In modern France, haute couture is a "protected name" that can be used only by firms that meet certain well-defined standards. However, the term is also used loosely to describe all high-fashion custom-fitted clothing, whether it is produced in Paris or in other fashion capitals such as London, New York, Tokyo and Milan.

Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finish, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques.

The term can refer to:

• the fashion houses or fashion designers that create exclusive and often trend-setting fashions
• the fashions created

Legal status

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, France. Their rules state that only "those companies mentioned on the list drawn up each year by a commission domiciled at the Ministry for Industry are entitled to avail themselves" of the label haute couture. The criteria for haute couture were established in 1945 and updated in 1992.

To earn the right to call itself a couture house and to use the term haute couture in its advertising and any other way, members of the Chambre Syndicale must follow these rules:

• Design made-to-order for private clients, with one or more fittings.
• Have a workshop (atelier) in Paris that employs at least fifteen people full-time.
• Each season, present a collection to the Paris press, comprising at least thirty-five runs with outfits for both daytime wear and evening wear.

However, the term haute couture has been misused by successive ready-to-wear brands and high street labels since the late 1980s so that its true meaning has become blurred with that of prêt-à-porter (the French term for ready-to-wear fashion) in the public perception. Every haute couture house also markets prêt-à-porter collections, which typically deliver a higher return on investment than their custom clothing. In fact, much of the haute couture displayed at fashion shows today is rarely sold; it is created to enhance the prestige of the house. Falling revenues have forced a few couture houses to abandon their less profitable couture division and concentrate solely on the less prestigious prêt-à-porter. These houses, such as Italian designer Antonio Capucci, all of whom have their workshops in Italy, are no longer considered haute couture.

Many top designer fashion houses also use the word for some of their collections.

Official haute couture houses

There are many fashion houses who were once official haute couture members:

1. Hanae Mori purveyors to the Japanese imperial Household Agency
2. Atelier Versace
3. Balenciaga
4. Elsa Schiaparelli
5. Guy Laroche
6. Jean Patou
7. Lanvin
8. Loris Azzaro
9. Marcel Rochas
10. Nina Ricci
11. Paco Rabanne
12. Pierre Cardin
13. Torrente Julien Fournie being the house's last couturier
14. Yves Saint Laurent
15. Erik Tenorio

As of early 2007, there are ten official haute couture member houses: [1][2]

1. Adeline André
2. Chanel
3. Christian Dior
4. Christian Lacroix
5. Dominique Sirop
6. Emanuel Ungaro
7. Franck Sorbier
8. Givenchy
9. Jean Paul Gaultier
10. Jean-Louis Scherrer

As of early 2007, there are four correspondent (foreign) member houses: [3]

1. Nocturnal Valentine
2. Elie Saab
3. Giorgio Armani
4. Valentino

History

French leadership in European fashion may perhaps be dated from the 18th century, when the art, architecture, music, and fashions of the French court at Versailles were imitated across Europe. Visitors to Paris brought back clothing that was then copied by local dressmakers. Stylish women also ordered fashion dolls dressed in the latest Parisian fashion to serve as models.

As railroads and steamships made European travel easier, it was increasingly common for wealthy women to travel to Paris to shop for clothing and accessories. French fitters and seamstresses were commonly thought to be the best in Europe, and real Parisian garments were considered better than local imitations.

The couturier Charles Frederick Worth (October 13, 1826–March 10, 1895), is widely considered the father of haute couture as it is known today. Although born in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England, Worth made his mark in the French fashion industry. While he created one-of-a-kind designs to please some of his titled or wealthy customers, he is best known for preparing a portfolio of designs that were shown on live models at the House of Worth. Clients selected one model, specified colors and fabrics, and had a duplicate garment tailor-made in Worth's workshop. Worth combined individual tailoring with a standardization more characteristic of the ready-to-wear clothing industry, which was also developing during this period.

Following in Worth's footsteps were Callot Soeurs, Patou, Poiret, Vionnet, Fortuny, Lanvin, Chanel, Mainbocher, Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, and Dior. Some of these fashion houses still exist today, under the leadership of modern designers.

In the 1960s a group of young designers who had trained under men like Dior and Balenciaga left these established couture houses and opened their own establishments. The most successful of these young men were Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin, André Courrèges, and Emanuel Ungaro. Japanese native and Paris-based Hanae Mori, a woman, was also successful in establishing her own line.

Lacroix is perhaps the most successful of the fashion houses to have been started in the last decade. Other new houses are Jean-Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler.

For all these fashion houses, custom clothing is no longer the main source of income, often costing much more than it earns through direct sales; it only adds the aura of fashion to their ventures in ready-to-wear clothing and related luxury products such as shoes and perfumes, and licensing ventures that earn greater returns for the company. Excessive commercialization and profit-making can be damaging, however. Cardin, for example, licensed with abandon in the 1980s and his name lost most of its fashionable cachet when anyone could buy Cardin luggage at a discount store.

The 1960s also featured a revolt against established fashion standards by mods, rockers, and hippies, as well as an increasing internationalization of the fashion scene. Jet travel had spawned a jet set that partied—and shopped—just as happily in New York as in Paris. Rich women no longer felt that a Paris dress was necessarily better than one sewn elsewhere. While Paris is still pre-eminent in the fashion world, it is no longer the sole arbiter of fashion.

See also

• Fashion designer
• Fashion Week
• Designer label
• Luxury brand
• List of grands couturiers
• Business cluster

signature brand

External links

• Introduction in Haute Couture
• "Haute Couture" from Label France, a magazine of the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs
• Haute Couture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Timeline of Art History
• The Golden Age of Couture. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved on 2007-09-13.

French (français, pronounced [fʁɑ̃ˈsɛ]) is a Romance language originally spoken in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, and today by about 300 million people around the world as either
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International Phonetic Alphabet

Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

The International
Phonetic Alphabet
History
Nonstandard symbols
Extended IPA
Naming conventions
IPA for English The
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Charles Frederick Worth (October 13, 1825 – March 10, 1895), widely considered the Father of Haute Couture, was an English-born fashion designer of the 19th century.

Career

Born in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England, Worth made his mark in the French fashion industry.
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Ville de Paris

City flag City coat of arms

Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur
(Latin: "Tossed by the waves, she does not sink")

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro.
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London
Canary Wharf is the centre of London's modern office towers
London shown within England
Coordinates:
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
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State of New York

Flag of New York Seal
Nickname(s): The Empire State
Motto(s): Excelsior!

Official language(s) None

Capital Albany
Largest city New York City

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Tokyo Metropolis (東京都 Tōkyō-to)

Capital n/a
Region Kantō
Island Honshū
Governor Shintaro Ishihara
Area 2,187.
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MILAN (French: Missile d´infanterie léger antichar = Anti-Tank Light Infantry Missile) is a European anti-tank guided missile. Design of the MILAN started in 1962. It was ready for trials in 1971, and was accepted for service in 1972.
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Fashion design is the applied art dedicated to the design of clothing and lifestyle accessories created within the cultural and social influences of a specific time.
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Fashion is a term that usually applies to a prevailing mode of expression, but quite often applies to a personal mode of expression that may or may not apply to all. Inherent in the term is the idea that the mode will change more quickly than the culture as a whole.
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Ville de Paris

City flag City coat of arms

Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur
(Latin: "Tossed by the waves, she does not sink")

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro.
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Motto
Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
Anthem
"La Marseillaise"

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Ready-to-wear or prêt-à-porter is the fashion design term for clothing marketed in a finished condition, in standard clothing sizes (in casual usage, off the rack or "off-the-peg").
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In finance, rate of return (ROR) or return on investment (ROI), or sometimes just return, is the ratio of money gained or lost on an investment relative to the amount of money invested.
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Hanae Mori (森 英恵 Mori Hanae, January 8, 1926 -) Hanae Mori is one of the most prominent and respectable fashion designer In Japan. She's the only Japanese woman to have presented her collections on the runways of Paris and New York, and the first and
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Versace

Private
Founded 1978
Headquarters Milan, Italy

Key people Gianni Versace, Founder
Santo Versace, Chairman & Co-CEO
Giancarlo Di Risio, Director & Co-CEO
Donatella Versace, Artistic Director
Industry Consumer Goods
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Balenciaga is a fashion house founded by Cristóbal Balenciaga, a Spanish designer. He introduced couture shapes to the women's world and was referred to as "the master of us all" by Christian Dior.
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Elsa Schiaparelli (September 10, 1890 – November 13, 1973) was a Parisian fashion designer of the 1920s and 1930s. She was born in Rome, Italy, of Italian and Egyptian heritage. She was a great-niece of Giovanni Schiaparelli, who discovered the canals of Mars.
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Guy Laroche was a French fashion designer (b. July 16, 1921 in La Rochelle, France; d. February 17, 1989) and founder of the eponymous company.

Laroche began his career in millinery and, from 1949, Laroche worked for Jean Desses and eventually became his assistant.
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Jean Patou (Paris, 1880-1936) was a French fashion designer.

The designer, who was born in Normandy, France, opened his couture house in 1919 after serving in WWI. He became known for eradicating the flapper look by lengthening the skirt and returning to a natural waistline.
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Jeanne Lanvin (b. Jeanne-Marie Lanvin, Paris, January 1 1867–d. Paris, July 6 1946), French fashion designer

Lanvin became known for her mother-and-daughter outfits and exquisite robes de style
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Loris Azzaro (February 9, 1933 - November 20, 2003), was a French fashion designer. He was born in Tunisia and came to Paris to set up his line in 1962. By 1968 his business was a huge success. He was well known for making glamorous party dresses for the elite of French society.
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Rochas is a fashion, beauty, and perfume house founded in 1925^[] by Marcel Rochas, the first designer of 2/3-length coats and skirts with pockets.^[] It is currently owned by Procter & Gamble.
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The house of Nina Ricci is a fashion house that was founded by Maria "Nina" Ricci and her son Robert in Paris in 1932. Nina Ricci designed gowns while Robert managed the business and finances.
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Paco Rabanne, (born Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo on February 18 1934 in San Sebastian (Donostia in Basque) in the Spanish Basque Country), is a fashion designer. He fled Spain for France with his mother when the Spanish Civil War broke out.
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Pierre Cardin is a fashion designer, who was born on July 7, 1922, near Venice, Italy, to French parents. He moved to Paris in 1945. There he studied architecture and worked with Paquin after the war.
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Torrente may refer to:

• Torrent, Valencia, a municipality located within the metropolitan area of the city of the Spanish city Valencia
• Torrente (fashion house), a Parisian haute couture fashion house founded by designer Rosette Torrente-Mett in 1969; current creative

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Julien Fournié is a French fashion designer who was the last creative director of the Paris-based haute couture fashion house Torrente.

Early life

With a Castilian mother and a French father, fashion flows in Julien Fournié’s blood.
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Yves Saint-Laurent may refer to:

• Yves Saint-Laurent (designer)
• Yves Saint-Laurent (brand)

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Adeline André is a French fashion designer and the head of one of the ten haute couture design houses in Paris. ^[1]

She was born in Bangui, French Equatorial Africa and studied at the School of the Syndicate Chamber of Parisian Couture.
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