Haute couture

Haute couture is exclusive, made-to-measure clothing produced by fashion houses that meet standards set by France’s fashion industry. It combines skilled handwork, personal fittings, and seasonal collections.

Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture: The French fashion-industry body that coordinates the haute couture calendar and membership rules. It organizes the schedule and framework through which houses present couture collections.
Charles Frederick Worth: An English-born Paris fashion designer often credited with establishing the modern fashion house model. Worth helped make the designer’s authorship and seasonal collections central to elite dressmaking.
Christian Dior: A French fashion designer whose 1947 debut collection established the House of Dior and reshaped postwar fashion. Dior’s house became a defining example of couture’s influence on fashion beyond custom clients.
Ready-to-wear: Factory-produced clothing made in standard sizes and sold as finished garments. Ready-to-wear serves broader markets without couture’s individual measurements and fittings.
Fashion week: A recurring event where designers present collections to industry professionals, clients, and media. Couture presentations occupy a distinct place within Paris’s broader fashion calendar.
Made-to-measure: Clothing cut and constructed for an individual client’s measurements and specifications. Individual measurements and fittings distinguish couture garments from standard ready-to-wear sizing.
House of Worth: A Paris fashion house founded by Charles Frederick Worth in the nineteenth century. Its business model helped shape the institution from which modern couture houses developed.
Coco Chanel: A French fashion designer whose work helped establish the House of Chanel and modern womenswear. Chanel’s couture practice connected a distinctive house style with made-to-measure clothing.
Bespoke tailoring: The commission-based making of a tailored garment for one client, traditionally associated with men’s suiting. Bespoke tailoring shares individual fitting but differs in its traditions and garment focus.
Fashion exhibition: A museum or gallery display that presents clothing and fashion as material and cultural history. Couture garments are preserved and exhibited as examples of design and craft.

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