In 1945, the federation came out with eligibility criteria regarding which fashion houses could be eligible for creating haute couture.

In 1975, a separate sub division was created for the purpose of regulating haute couture and was known as the Fédération française de la couture, du prêt-à-porter des couturiers et des créateurs de mode or Fédération de la haute couture et de la mode. It was founded in 1868 and was the thought-child of Charles Frederick Word. It looked over the brands who created haute couture,counterfeiting of designs, questions in terms of law and taxes, the opening dates of a collection, number of models, etc. A Parisian governing body called Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture was created by a number of couturiers who regulated the world of haute couture. Many of these yet rule the fashion industry is very popular.īut haute couture cannot be termed to any brand that creates custom fitted clothing.

Some of the first fashion houses that created haute couture are Callot Soeurs, Poiret, Fortuny, Lanvin, Chanel, Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, and Dior. Worth had a long list of clients which were wealthy and royal.įollowing his footsteps many others rose to the art of haute couture and Paris soon became the capital of Fashion. He was one of the first to let his clients choose the fabric they wanted even the specific colors and hand stitched the garments to the exact fit of the clients. Even though he was an Englishman he revolutionized the French dressmaking and fashion industry. But it was the couturier Charles Frederick Worth who is considered as the Father of Haute Couture. He is credited for bringing haute couture and fashion to the French culture. The term goes back to the 17th century when Rose Bertin designed couture for Queen Marie Antoinette. Considering the time, efforts, hours and skill that goes in creating each completed piece, the sky's the limit to the price of haute couture. To create an haute couture gown, the designers and sewers have to be the most experienced and capable for this is an art which requires the closest attention to details and putting in hard work for hours and hours before that one magnificent piece is created. Haute Couture is exclusively created custom fitted, high quality clothing that is hand stitched from start to end and often uses unusual fabric. Couture in French stands for sewing, dressmaking or needlework. Haute Couture clothing literally means high dressmaking. While this is not completely wrong, it leaves out many other factors. Many times, people misunderstand the phrase and use it just to sound all hoity-toity in French thereby losing on the actual meaning of it while others also misinterpret it for handmade or made-to-order clothing. It is extravagant, fanciful, and elaborate! There is barely anything much fancier and grander than haute couture. Haute Couture lies at the heart of fashion’s ecosystem. It is quite surprising how we’ve heard the term so many times yet many of us fail to understand the meaning of haute couture in essence. ‘Christian Dior Haute Couture - I don’t know what it means, but I had to say it.’ was Jennifer Lawrence’s response to the question ‘Who are you wearing?’ at the Golden Globes red carpet back in 2013. Haute Couture is all of that- selling a dream.

As little girls many of us saw pictures of celebrities walking the red carpets and day-dreamed of ourselves wearing the fancy hats with probably a classic red gown of some designer we can barely pronounce the name of- waving our hands and flipping our hair.

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