-Anjali Khot, Asst. Prof., MGM IFD
If you have a passion for art, interest in playing with colours, enjoy making sketches, your goals are creating clothes for famous personalities, celebrities… you are in the right field, “Fashion Design”. Dream of becoming a fashion designer, Haute couture is the platform to show your creative and innovative instincts in the fashion world.
Haute Couture is a unique part of the fashion world. Haute Couture is a French word which literally stands for High Fashion. Haute means high or elegant, couture means sewing. The term refers to high fashion custom made women’s clothes.
Haute couture can be referred back to as early as the 17th century. Rose Bertin, the French designer to Queen Marie Antoinette, can be credited for bringing fashion and to haute couture to French culture. She became the minister of fashion for the French court.
The couturier Charles Fredrich Worth, during the early 19th century, is widely considered the father of haute couture as it is known today. Born in England, Worth made his mark in the French fashion industry. In 1858, Worth established the first Haute couture house in Paris.
Haute Couture garments for the wealthy class are elaborately tailored and trimmed, Each piece can be hand-sewn, embroidered, jewelled and embellished to perfection. These are made from high quality expensive often unusual fabric sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by most experienced and capable workmen. These procedures are often time-consuming as they are mostly done with hand sewn techniques.
The haute couture collection is an exclusive collection dedicated to certain customers now and is custom sized to fit these customers exactly. Haute couture garments are also described as having no price tag and budget becomes irrelevant.
In today’s world, Haute couture refers to fashion designers and fashion designing houses that create exclusive and often trend-setting fashion. It is part of the global showcase culture and acts as a platform to start new fashion trends in the world.