Chambre

CONTENT

Haute Couture​

Atelier

History of Haute Couture

Emergence of Chambre Syndicale

Future of Haute Couture in 21 st Century​

One Can Find Couture Fashions - PARIS & FRANCE

 HAUTE
COUTURE
High Dressmakin
g

• Haute couture is high fashion clothing or also known as finest dressmaking made by atelier /
fashion houses regulated by the French government.

• Haute couture is fashion at its most refined, it is a symbol of French luxury.

• Created as one off pieces for a specific client as made-to-order fashion

• Each made-to-order clothing item is made by hand from scratch and usually requires several fitting;

• It can take between 100 - 700 hours to make one dress.

• The cost ranges from $25,000 - $100,000.

• They are known for their high-quality, expensive fabric and extreme attention to detail.
 Vogue once described Couture pieces as ‘walking pieces of art’.

 Every Haute Couture piece is made to measure for a single client. The client comes to the
Parisian atelier for measurements and fittings.

 Regardless of how exclusive a piece is, it is not Haute Couture until the Chambre Syndicale de
la Haute Couture crowns it so.

 Upon the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture’s approval, a fashion house is considered
Haute Couture by French law.

 Haute couture is a highly protected term. Not any designer can call themselves a couture
designer.
There are only 12 Haute Couture studios in Paris today, including Christian Dior,
Chanel, Ellie Saab and Versace.

 Adeline Andre  Chanel

 Christian Dior
 Frank Sorbier
 Givenchy
 Christian Lacroix
 Dominique Strop
 Maurizio Galante  Jean Paul Gaultier

 Stephane Rolland  Anne Valerie Harsh

 LEGALITY OF HAUTE COUTURE

 The term ‘haute couture’ is legally protected and can only be given to certain
brands that meet a list of rules.

 In 1945, the Chambre Syndicale created a list of criteria a designer must meet in
order to be called haute couture.

 These criteria exist to control the quality and prestige of the clothing.

 Once the designer meets the necessary requirements, the French Ministry of
Industry approves the brand.

 Failure to meet the regulations means you lose the title.

 The designer must create made-to-order garments for private clients.

 Garments must require more than one fitting before being completed. For some
brands, like Dior, at least three fittings are required per garment.

 The designer must employ 15 or more full-time staff at an atelier (workshop), along
with 20 full-time technical workers

 The designer must present his/her collection twice a year at Paris’s Couture Fashion
Week in January and July.

 The audience includes editors, clients and buyers.

 Each collection must include at least 50 separate outfits for day and eveningwear.
 ATELIER
French word for workshop/studio

References a designers studio/workshop

in which they work to design an outfi t.

In English the term Atelier is most often

used for the private workshop or studio
of a professional artist in the fi ne or
decorative arts, where a principal master
and a number of assistants, students,
and apprentices work together producing
fi nest pieces of art or visual art under
the master's name or supervision.

8 P R E S E N TAT I O N T I T L E 20XX
FASHION HOUSE

A ‘fashion house’ or ‘couture

house’ is headed by a top
designer where new fabrics, trims,
etc. are discussed.

Many are in Paris Few operate

showrooms and boutiques in New
York on Manhattan’s Seventh
Avenue

A fashion house is named after it’s

designer/ originator Example:
 HISTORY OF HAUTE
COUTURE
Charles Frederick Worth (Englishman), the father of
haute couture, established the 1 st haute couture
house, named ‘The House of Worth’ in 1858 at no.
7, rue de la Paix in Paris.

During this time, only women made women’s clothing

– until Worth came along.

He worked with France’s silk textile industry to create

expensive, luxury fashion for upper-class women so
they could stand out.
In 1858 in Paris, Worth started to organize yearly showings of his clothing used live mannequins
to model his designs to see and approve or disapprove.
Worth’s approach was considered novel. His ideas of showing finished couture garments on live
models were a huge success.
Clients would select a model they liked, specify the colors and fabrics they wanted and then have
the garment tailor-made at his house.

The workrooms were distributed based on two sewing techniques:

 “Flou” (dressmaking for dresses and draped garments)
 “Tailleur” (tailoring for suits and coats)
Worth is also credited as the 1 st “fashion designer” because he put his name on a label
and attached it to the clothing. All Worth’s evening dresses featured lavish textiles
trimmings and ornamental embroidery.

Worth’s notable clients included Empress Eugenie; wife of Emperor Napoleon III;
Elizabeth, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary; Queen of Sweden; Maria Cristina,
Queen of Spain; and Ranavalona, Queen of Madagascar.

Early 20th century fashion designers such as Jacques Doucet (founded in 1871), Rouff
(founded 1884), Jeanne Paquin (founded in 1891), the Callot Soeurs (founded 1895),
Paul Poiret (founded in 1903), Louise Chéruit (founded 1906), Madeleine Vionnet
(founded in 1912), Elsa Schiaparelli (founded in 1927) continued to advance
Emergence of Chambre
Syndicale
Located in Paris and other places like Tokyo, New York, Milan and
London
Worth Founds the First Chambre
Syndicale in 1868

10 years later Charles Worth

and his sons founded an
association of couture houses
called The Chambre
Syndicale De La Confection
Et De La Couture Pour The Chambre Syndicale De
Dames Et Fillettes. La Confection And Couture
For Ladies And Girls
Its initial purpose was
intended to stop couture
designs being copied.
The Cost of High Fashion

Expenses Reasons:
One dress can cost from –Service
$26,000 to over $100,000 –Workmanship
–Originality of designs
Tailor made suit = $16,000
The specific designs could be made
from:
Chanel suit = $30,000
 Color used by ONLY that design house
Evening gown = $60,000  Luxurious fabrics
 Expensive silks, fine wools, leather &
furs
 Embroidery
 Beading
In fashion history terms the organization has progressed and
changed its name with the times in an effort to promote French
fashion and the French Haute Couture style.

The Chambre Syndicale De La Haute Couture is one of several

Chambres Syndicales that make up the Fédération Française De La
Couture Du Prêt-à-Porter established in 1973.
French Federation of Ready-to-Wear
Couture

It is known also more simply as the Chambre Syndicale De La

Couture.
Branches of the French Fashion Federation: –

1. Chamber Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne promotes and protects the

couture houses (1868)

2. Chamber Syndicale de Prêt-à-Porter represents ready-to- wear branches

of couture and the best of French prêt-à-porter (1873)

3. Chambre Syndicale de la Mode Masculine represents men’s wear

industries of couture
The Federation also has a fashion school, the École de la chambre syndicale de la
couture parisienne (created in 1927 and still active).

Alumni of the school include Valentino Garavani, Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld,
André Courreges, Issey Miyake, Anne Valerie Hash, Alexis Mabille, Tomas Maier,
Nicole Miller, Stephane Rolland, Victor Joris

The Federation is responsible for setting the dates and location of the French
fashion weeks. It also establishes industry standards on quality and on the use of the
word "haute couture".
 INTERESTING FACTS TO KNOW

It sponsors a school to educate individuals seeking apprenticeships in

the couture industry

The 1st year of schooling revolves around learning sewing techniques

which are all critical to the success of a garment.

The 2nd year consists of learning how to construct actual garments.

The 3rd year students focus their attention on women’s tailoring and
draping where they become experts in sewing and can basically create
excellent results with the use of any fabric
 CHAMBRE SYNDICALE DE LA COUTURE

 Chambre Syndicale De La Couture is the regulating commission that

determines which fashion design houses are eligible to be true haute couture
houses.
 Within the Fédération the Syndicale is a body that deals with piracy of styles,
foreign relations and organization and coordination of the fashion collection
timetables.
 The current number of haute couture houses are entitled to free advertising
on state run French television.
 Couture houses charge an entrance fee to
wholesale and retail firms who book to see
the collections.

The fee is scaled according to individual

fi rms.
Some firms go only to get an idea of the
‘line’.
They have bought the right to inspiration.

They might buy a complete model gown as

shown in the collection or they buy a toile in
21
linen with the details sketched in with a
sketch of the pattern, original sample fabric
Once the model has been bought in any of these ways
the buyer has the right to reproduce it and to mention
the name of the house from which it originated.

Although none of the Indian brands are official members

of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, India
Couture Week (FDCI’s flagship event) is a place where
they can showcase their work.

While couture is still developing in India, high street

fashion is easily accessible to Indians thanks to brands
like Zara, H&M, Cover Story, Dorothy Perkins that have
stores and online shops as well.

20XX
 HISTORY OF HAUTE COUTURE: A
TIMELINE

1858
English couturier, Charles 1868
Frederick Worth Le Chambre Syndicale de la
established the first haute Haute Couture was first
couture house in Paris, established as the safeguard of
championing exclusive high-fashion. Designers were
luxury fashion for the required to earn the right to label
upper-class woman and themselves a couture house
coining the term 'fashion according to certain
designer' - an artist in lieu specifications. These were later
of the basic dressmaker. outlined in 1945.
The Father of Haute Couture Known for introducing the hoop skirt, and walking
skirt

In the 19 th century the cost of his designs was up to $2,500

1891
Jeanne Paquin 1903
becomes one of Having worked for
the first female Doucet and Worth,
couturiers. Paul Poiret opens his
She dresses own salon, as well as
actresses in her a perfume shop and a
gowns and sends decorative arts space,
her collections on creating the first
tour to the US to “total lifestyle’’
capitalize on new brand.
American wealth. Eager to liberate
She was elected women from
president of Le petticoats and
Chambre Syndicale corsets, in 1906 he
de la Haute incorporates the fluid
Couture in 1917. lines of kimonos and
1908
The phrase “haute couture”
(literally, ‘high sewing’) was
coined by the Chambre
Syndicale 1912

Madeleine Vionnet begins

1910 experimenting with a new way of
cutting that does away with
Chanel opens a
cumbersome clothes.
millinery studio in Paris
and in 1913 begins
Cut on the diagonal, or bias, the
offering chic,
resulting slip dresses will inspire
comfortable, masculine-
the dress codes of the 1930s
inspired clothing that
and, many years later, the work
frees women from the
of John Galliano.
restrictive fashions of
the time.
 1921
1912
Spanish designer The French press created PAIS
Cristobal Balenciaga L’Association de Protection
opens his atelier in San
des Industries Artistiques
Sebastian in Spain, and
begins experimenting Saisonnieres to protect couture
with silhouettes. designs from being copied.
Oscar de la Renta, To ensure the copyright of the
Hubert de Givenchy,
designers, their creations were
Pierre Cardin and
Emanuel Ungaro will all photographed on a model or
work in his atelier over mannequin from the front, back
the coming decades. and side as evidence.
1927

Elsa Schiaparelli opens her atelier,

encouraged by Poiret. Combining fashion
with surrealism, via friends such as Jean
Cocteau, Salvador Dali and Man Ray,
Schiap, as she is popularly known, injects
sharp modernism into women’s clothing.
1939

Chanel retires and closes her

couture house after the outbreak
of the Second World War. She
returned in 1954.
 1945

The strict rules of Le Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture were

established to determine whether or not a couture label could be deemed as
such. About 100 labels qualified. In order to meet their criteria, the maison
had to ensure several points were followed, including:
– Designs must be made-to-order for private clients, with one or more fittings
– Each atelier must have at least 20 members of staff
– Each season, the couture house must present a collection of at least 35
runs with both daytime and evening wear to the Paris press.
These rules (and more) are still in place today.
1947

The House of Christian Dior was founded on

December 16th, 1946
France's fashion industry was successfully
revived from wartime austerity with Christian
Dior's 'New Look' collection. Dubbed Corelle,
after the botanical term for the frail petals in
the centre of a flower, the collection featured a
new-found glamour in the shape of tight
waists, stiff petticoats and billowing skirts.
1952

French aristocrat Hubert de

Givenchy opens his couture house.

1961

Givenchy dresses Audrey Hepburn in

the famous black column dress for the
opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
1966

The first ever couture boutique was

established by pioneer Yves Saint Laurent
when he launched Saint Laurent Rive
Gauche.

Other brands, including Pierre Cardin, Andre

Courreges, Ted Lapidus and Emanuel
Ungaro soon followed.

Today, clients must book a private

appointment at the atelier of the designer.
 1980s
The rise of Middle Eastern oil
fortunes and the Western
economies stimulated more
1970
demand for couture.

The number of couture houses dropped to just 19

(there were 106 in 1946).
Many designers attributed blame to the strict
rules from Le Chambre Syndicale de La Haute
Couture, but other important factors include the
growth of cheaper, mass-produced fashion using
synthetic materials and widespread recession.
Thierry Mugler and Christian Lacroix both left
the Chambre at this time
 THE NEW MILLENIA: TRAGEDY AND
HOPE?
2004
Versace was forced to stop 2011
holding a show between John Galliano, possibly
2004 and 2012 as a result of 2010
one of the most talented
the recession making it The wildly creative &
couture designers in
unfeasible for the brand. exquisitely talented
history, was fired from Dior.
. Alexander McQueen
commits suicide.

2012 2013
Andrea Brocca, world’s youngest couture designer Rad Hourani debuted
opened his couture shop in Dubai at the age of 16, the first ever unisex
catering mainly to Middle Eastern royalty. couture collection
35 P R E S E N TAT I O N T I T L E 20XX
2014
Christian Dior brought the 1st
haute couture show to Shanghai.
Ralph & Russo joined as the 1st
British brand in over 100 years of 2015
Couture Fashion Week.
A total of 12 fashion houses The house of Chanel owns Paraffection, a
showed on the autumn/winter 14- subsidiary company created to support
15 couture schedule in Paris. artisanal manufacturing.
Only two were actually French It includes the world’s greatest Ateliers
(Chanel and Dior).
d’Art including Desrues (specialised in
ornamentation and buttons), Lemarie for
feathers, Lesage for embroidery, Massaro
for shoemaking and Michel for millinery.
 2017

The main buyers of Haute Couture

today are no longer French
socialites, but buyers from Russia, 2020
China and the Middle East. Fine
The couture industry is decimated by the
clothing items can escalate in
Coronavirus. Not only are many shows
value over the years, and are often
forced to go virtual, but clients are not
regarded as collectors’ items,
interested in buying, since lavish events
making for a clever investment!
around the world are cancelled indefinitely.
 THE DECLINE OF COUTURE HOUSES

Over the 20 th century the number of couture design houses contracted to just 18
by 2000. In 1946 there were 106 fashion houses and even in 1952 there were still
sixty.

By 1997 only 18 were in a position to produce full public fashion collections twice
yearly. Sadly, by January 2002, at the time of Yves St. Laurent’s announcement
of his retirement, there were only 12 couture houses left.

Due to expenses and a decreasing cliental, haute-couture designers have shifted to

ready-to-wear lines Examples: Emanuel Ungaro, Gianni Versace, Yves Saint
 In 2003 Donatella Versace stopped doing the couture shows and by
2004 so did Ungaro.

Today only 2,000 women in the world buy couture clothes; 60% are American.
Only 200 are regular customers. Often, designers will loan clothes to movie stars
or other public figures for publicity.

During fashion's "golden age," after World War II, some 15,000 women wore
couture.

39 P R E S E N TAT I O N T I T L E 20XX
 CLASSROOM ACTIVITY

What according to you would be the future of Haute Couture in context of the globe and India as well.

Elaborate in 500 words.

Further Study: Demi -Couture

 RECENT
SHOWCASE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDNje4TgI0s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxd25zywvZ8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIDCucsNR10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKl1ml0KZ04
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQXz7cnQHys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqmkAS6FDKQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgcNy2EgE_Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cYHlo3AaeM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icqVbJlhup0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxgMDcNQBXo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibZASM8XmZI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsu2WRFaUoQ
Demi-couture_ Aff ordable
Luxury: Emerging Trend In Haute
Couture
Literally translated this means half couture, and the idea is to make couture more
accessible. Many design houses are employing young designers resulted in a new
trend of demi-couture.

Demi-couture is ready-to-wear designs produced by fashion houses but not massed-

produced. They are not specifically fitted for the customer

Records are kept of the customers and their purchases to help prevent showing up in
the same dress

Prices are about $6,000 instead of $60,000 Designers Include: –Stella McCartney,
Chloe
Internationally designers
like Mary Katrantzou,
Azzedine
Alaia and Haider
Ackerman opt to show
demi couture collections.

Hussein Chalayan's Second Demi-Couture

• https://www.businessoff ashion.com/education/fashion-az/haute-couture

• https://couturenotebook.com/best-haute-couture-blog/2015/07/06/haute
-couture-fall-2015-atelier-versace-conjures-sexy-titania

• https://www.loffi cielusa.com/fashion/history-of-haute-couture-2019

• https://sunsetplaza.com/high-fashion-what-is-haute-couture/

• https://www.loffi cielusa.com/fashion/history-of-haute-couture-2019

• https://fashion-era.com/haute-couture
 HOME ASSIGNMENT
Select a designer from a couture house, you would like to know more about from the past, look for any of their
famous collection/ outfit (count should be 3) and do an in-depth study about the design to Describe the garment in
terms of Silhouette Fit Proportion Line Fabric, Texture Color Detailing

“or”

Watch the Latest Haute Couture show, choose a particular Brand and select any 3 outfits out of the collection and
prepare a description for the following, with reference to the styles emerged in past, if any.

Note: After reviewing the abovementioned exercise, come up with 3 design (illustrations), with the same
inspiration and theme. Finally, present your work of art and defend how and why your creation can beat the
couture design.
THANK
YOU
Ms. Nidhi

[email protected]​