Third Wave Fashion // DECEMBER 2013 // YEAR END WRAP-UP | Page 11

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what’s the

WORD
“

?

HAUTE COUTURE ”

Many of our fashion-focused readers already
know this, but to our readers who come from
a business or technology background, we’d
like to help clear something up.
Haute couture means “high dressmaking” or
“high fashion” in French, where the phrase
originated. It is used colloquially to describe
fashion across the board – from Juicy
Couture sweatpants to off-the-rack denim.
This use, from a purist's perspective, is
wrong.
Despite the high cost of haute couture
garments (some gowns top $100,000), many
couture houses lose money; the fanciful
runway spectacles are staged as marketing
for the prêt-à-porter (factory made) clothing,
luxury accessories, and fragrance & cosmetic
lines.
The Chambre sends out new invitations
every two years. Some couturiers you have
heard of: Chanel, Dior, Gaultier, and foreign
members such as Armani and Valentino.
Many more designers are relatively
unknown to the w orld of commercialism and
fragrance deals; they quietly make beautiful,
made-to-order clothing using the old
traditions.
This is the world of haute couture.

The Parisian chamber of
commerce, or the Chambre de
commerce et d'industrie de
Paris, regulates haute couture,
according to the following
standards:
•

•

•

•

They must design made-to-order for
private clients with at least one custom,
in-person fitting for each garment.
They must have an atelier (a workshop)
located in Paris that employs at least
fifteen full-time staff members.
They must have twenty full-time
technical people housed in in at least
one atelier.
Every season, they must present a
collection of at least twenty-five original
designs to the public (of both day and
evening garments); they must be shown
in January and in July of each year.

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