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Haute couture

Creation of exclusive, custom-fitted clothing

  • 8 min read
  • 4 chapters

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Terminology

Etymology

The English term haute couture was borrowed from French, where it literally means 'high sewing' or 'high dressmaking'. Its first recorded use in English was in 1908, in the Arnold Bennett novel The Old Wives' Tale.

History

The term haute couture is protected by French law and defined by the Paris Chamber of Commerce. The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode is defined as "the regulating commission that determines which fashion houses are eligible to be true haute couture houses". 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 Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne is an association of Parisian couturiers founded in 1868 as an outgrowth of medieval guilds that regulate its members with regard to counterfeiting of styles, dates of openings for collections, number of models presented, relations with press, questions of law and taxes, and promotional activities. Formation of the organisation was brought about by Charles Frederick Worth. An affiliated school was organized in 1930 called L'Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture. The school helps bring new designers to help the "couture" houses that are still present today. Since 1975, it has operated within the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode.

In response to the Nazi occupation of Paris, more rigorous criteria for the term haute couture were established in 1945. 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 de la Haute Couture must follow specific rules:

  • design made-to-order for private clients, with one or more fittings;
  • have a workshop (atelier) in Paris that employs at least fifteen staff members full-time;
  • have at least 20 full-time technical people, in at least one workshop (atelier); and
  • present a collection of at least 50 original designs to the public every fashion season (twice, in January and July of each year), of both day and evening garments.

Current use

The term is also used loosely to describe all high-fashion, custom-fitted clothing, whether it is produced in the fashion capitals of London, New York City, Paris, and Milan. In either case, the term can refer to the fashion houses or fashion designers that create exclusive and often trend-setting fashions or to the fashions created. The term haute couture has also taken on further popular meanings referring to non-dressmaking activities, such as production of fine art and music.

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