Haute Couture is something that makes us dream, it’s like an exquisite bon-bon. The beauty in couture is so stunning and so hypnotizing, that you must see all the the shows, all the dresses and details of it! Wondering when it’s the day that we can wear it one, when the dress will be part of you, your second skin… That would be the amazing Couture experience… Probably this would be just a dream for most os the people, but we still don’t pay taxes for dreaming… and dreaming fulfills our heads and hearts…
A dress of Haute Couture it’s like a piece of Art. I know that most of the people will disagree with that, but I will try to explain the process that a dress of couture needs until arrives to the client. To be considered Haute Couture, a garment must have been produced by one of the members of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, a fashion trade association that is part of the Fédération Française de la Couture du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode. Some of the rules are: the design made-to-order for private clients, with one or more fittings, workshop (atelier) in Paris that employs at least fifteen people full-time, must have twenty full-time technical people in at least one atelier (workshop) and each season (i.e., twice a year), present a collection to the Paris press, comprising at least thirty-five runs/exits with outfits for both daytime wear and evening wear. Having the label Haute Couture it’s not for every label.
Let’s take a look to the process of a Chanel Haute-Couture dress (Information and photographs taken from the http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/).
A drawing and the silk, pleated fabric for look number 45 from the Chanel autumn/winter 2011 haute couture collection.
The silk fabric is folded, draped and pinned to a tailor’s dummy.
The ‘petites mains’ delicately fold and twist the fabric for the skirt part of the dress to achieve the right effect.
Details such as these silver buttons and white plumes are added to the design last.
A model is helped into the dress prior to the catwalk show.
The completed creation on show on the catwalk, which was staged at the vast Grand Palais in central Paris.
A toile and a pattern for a tweed jacket from the same collection.
The pattern is carefully applied to the dummy.
Every single measurement needs to be 100 per cent accurate.
The tweed fabric, infused with glittering beadwork, is laid out and cut with military precision.
The lining and hems are undertaken by the seamstresses in the atelier.
A model tries on the tweed skirt-suit for size, while a seamstress checks for any outstanding tweaks.
Finally, the tweed ensemble is ready for the catwalk.
So, as you can see, make a Haute Couture garment it’s not just make a shirt, or a dress, it’s making it with full attention to details, quality, fitting, … everything has to be thought until the smallest detail. And also, off course, be part of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. So for me… Yes Haute Couture is a way of making Art.
Legs In Rhythm 