How does haute couture work

By Alex Kessler. Vogue speaks to key figures within the organisation about the inner workings of this enigmatic French institution. Approved fashion houses can be supported in strategic, communication, marketing, and economic, technological, cultural and even political possibilities — and Haute Couture members also gain a position on the official couture schedule. The demanding guidelines and labour-intensive practices today, one Giambattista Valli couture gown can take approximately hours and 6, metres of fabric to create render it inaccessible to anyone outside of the 0.

By Vogue. Much mythology exists around the strict rules and regulations required of haute couture houses by the FHCM. In order to be eligible for haute couture status, members must create made-to-order garments in an atelier of at least 15 full-time staff, as well as 20 full-time technical workers in one of their ateliers. The evening dress might have thousands of hand sewn beads probably done by the expert and famous Parisian embroidery and beading firm of Lesage, founded in by Albert Lesage.

A couture house like Chanel for example will have about regular clients who buy couture and a house like Dior will make about 20 couture bridal gowns a year.

The fabrics available to the couture house would be very luxurious and include the latest novelty fabrics and expensive silks, fine wools, cashmeres, cottons, linens, leather, suede, other skins or furs. In the case of a famous design house the design and colour of a cloth, may be exclusively reserved for that couture house. Outside specialists make accessories either by design or inspiration. Hats, trimmings, buttons, belts, costume jewellery, shoes and innovative pieces are finely crafted to complement the fabrics and fashion ideas being created.

Superb craftsmanship, a fresh idea and publicized internationally renowned names all command a price to match.

Those able to afford couture are happy to pay for exclusivity and the privacy afforded by the system. Designers create their initial designs either by using muslin, which drapes well for flowing designs or by using linen canvas or calico for more structured garments such as tailored garments. The final toile of a design idea is an accurate interpretation of the line or cut right down to the button placement or hemline that the designer is seeking.

Once satisfied the designer instructs his staff to make up the garment in the selected and exclusive materials. One seamstress or tailor will work on the garment from start to finish. The cutting and finishing is done in one room and the workroom manageress is responsible for everything produced in that room. When a customer decides to order a Haute Couture garment she needs to first make an appointment with the design house prior to any visit to Paris.

Model garments from collections are sometimes out of the country being presented elsewhere. Some couture houses provide a video of the collection to serious purchasers. Once given an appointment the client is looked after by a vendeuse, an important saleswoman responsible for customers, their orders and supervision of their fittings. The vendeuse gets commission on the clothes of her own particular group of clients.

From the moment a client is received at the salon the client is helped and humoured through all stages of fitting and sudden difficulties. A difficulty could for example be another client from the same city who wants the exact same design and colour garment for a prestigious function.

The vendeuse smoothes out such problems knowing full well what a disaster it could be for two women to pay vast sums for an exclusive haute couture item only to bump into the acquaintance at the same venue in the identical outfit.

Haute couture may be synonymous with French culture, but it was an Englishman who started the movement. When Charles Frederick Worth moved from Bourne, England, to Paris in , he began a dressmaking department at fabric store Gagelin, creating bespoke pieces for clients instead of simply selling them the materials to make their own clothes.

Eventually, Worth opened his own boutique, Worth et Bobergh, at rue de la Paix, and quickly gained a dedicated and adoring clientele. It protects design houses such as Chanel, Givenchy and Valentino, as well as designers who only work in the haute couture field, such as Schiaparelli and Jean Paul Gaultier. In total, there are only 14 designers who bear the label of haute couture. Designers must have their own atelier with no less than 15 staff in addition to 20 technical staff members, which includes almost 2, les petit mains, who provide the painstaking detail of couture pieces , which is equipped to offer private showings for clients, and more than one fitting.

The sets are decadent, to show off to best effect the incredible hours of work spent creating the garments. British socialite Daphne Guinness is one of the most famous buyers of haute couture. Heir to the Guinness fortune, she has regularly championed designers such as Alexander McQueen and Givenchy. She is so well known for her haute couture tastes that she has even displayed her favourite pieces in an exhibition at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

In an interview with The Talks , she explained her dedication to haute couture.