Haute
Couture
Haute couture is
French for "high sewing" or "high dressmaking".
It refers to the creation of exclusive custom fitted fashions. It
originally referred to French fashion and in France, is a
"protected name" that can be used only by firms that meet
certain well-defined standards. Today it is also used to mean all
custom made high fashion, not only in Paris but also in
international fashion capitals such as New York, London, Milan,
Toronto or Singapore.
The term haute
couture is protected by law in France. 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. These rules are simple:
to be designated as haute couture, a minimum of fifteen people must
be employed at the workshops and must present to the press in Paris
each season (spring/summer and autumn/winter) a collection of at
least thirty-five runs comprising outfits for daytime wear and
evening wear.
All haute couture
designers have prêt-à-porter departments. Usually, much of the
haute couture designs at fashion shows today are seldom sold; it is
created strictly for the show and for prestige.
As of
spring 2006, there are ten official haute couture houses:
Adeline André
Chanel
Christian
Dior
Jean-Paul
Gaultier
Givenchy
Christian
Lacroix
Scherrer
Dominique
Sirop
Franck
Sorbier
Emanuel
Ungaro
Foreign
members in 2006:
Giorgio
Armani
Versace
Valentino
