HAUTE COUTURE, WHAT IS THAT?

It's the most fashionable time of the year for me.

In a month there are the F/W collections (my favorite!).

And now there are ofcourse the Haute Couture collections.

Paris Fashion Week will always be more special to me than the other Fashion Weeks.

Paris has my favorite designers.

A close second is Milan, but Paris has my heart.

Now, the haute couture Fashion Week ends tonight.

For those of you who wonder what exactly haute couture is, I'll explain.

Haute Couture is a special collection.

Every piece/outfit you see walking down the catwalk is made for just one person. (Sometimes there are several pieces of an outfit, but not many!)

The F/W shows for example are prêt-a-porter, ready-to-wear.

You can buy items in shops, in several sizes, in several countries.

You may have noticed that haute couture is usually more "excentric" than the ready-to-wear collections.

That is true. In Haute Couture there will be more creativity, because haute couture is pure art. The designer can and will experiment.

Haute Couture is very rare and therefore also very expensive.

In France there are guidelines for Haute Couture.

You can only call yourself a Haute Couturier when there must be met the following guidelines:

- The clothes must be made in the own atelier (workshop).

- There must work at least 12 people in the atelier.

- There must be a show twice a year, with at least 50 different pieces.

- There must be at least 3 models.

- There must be a special space where the collection can be showed to the regular customers.

The guidelines come from le "Chambre Syndicale de La Couture".

They also appoint the couturiers.

Here is a list of the "official" haute couturiers appointed by le Chambre Syndicale de La Couture.

-Official members

Adeline André—Atelier Gustavolins—Chanel—Christian Dior—Christophe Josse—Franck Sorbier—Givenchy—Jean Paul Gaultier—Maurizio Galante—Stéphane Rolland — Giambattista Valli^[7]

Correspondent members (foreign)

Elie Saab—Giorgio Armani—Valentino—Versace^[8]

Guest members

Alexandre Vauthier—Bouchra Jarrar—Iris Van Herpen—Julien Fournié—Maxime Simoens—Yiqing Yin (new in season SS2012)^[8]

Jewelry

Boucheron—Chanel Joaillerie—Chaumet—Dior Joaillerie—Van Cleef & Arpels

Accessories

Loulou de la Falaise—Massaro—On Aura Tout Vu 

So now you have an idea of what Haute Couture is.

In the next post I'm going to give all the highlights of Paris Fashion Week: Haute Couture S/S 13!

Love, Rani.