Every year, in January and July, internationally renowned designers gather in flocks and fly with their collections to the fashion capital of the world, Paris.
It is during these months that the main event of the fashion industry, Paris Haute Couture Week, takes place here. Unlike Fashion Week – the pret-a-porter shows, which also take place twice a year in New York, Milan, London and Paris – Haute Couture Fashion Week showcases outfits made in a single instance. Haute Couture Fashion Week showcases one-of-a-kind garments, most of which are handmade.
Each demonstrated collection of clothes includes 35 sets, the total cost of which is hundreds of thousands of dollars. Except for the fact that many dresses are the pinnacle of design thought and benchmarks of the art of sewing, and it is impossible to measure their value in money. Access to the fashion Olympus is not open to everyone: only Fashion Houses that are members of the Haute Couture Syndicate can participate in the Week.
Another limitation: membership in this organization is available only to Parisian fashion houses and ateliers, foreign designers can claim only the title of corresponding members. And they have only recently achieved this right!
What is a couture dress
It would seem that why such strictness, why not open the way to the Paris haute couture week to famous designers from outside France, of which there are many? But in the very concept of “high sewing” the French put much more than just original and well-made models of dresses. What is it, a dress worthy to be called Haute Couture? Here are the main criteria:
- it took between 200 and 1,000 hours to make;
- it’s sewn from a fabric specially made for this purpose;
- The percentage of machine stitches cannot be more than 30;
- the seams are hand-trimmed with silk ribbon;
- only handmade lace and embroidery are used.
And that’s just the beginning of the list of requirements for haute couture collections.
Who can be called a couturier
The fact that the conditions for joining the Syndicate are regulated by a special law shows that Paris is not called the fashion capital for nothing. It was only after the relaxation of draconian rules that such couturiers as Thierry Mugler, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Versace, Armani and Valentino “broke through” to the catwalk of the Paris ha ute couture week. Thanks to another relaxation, young designers had a chance to present their works to the public, so to speak, “on the margins” of the Week: during the defile-off, the interval between the shows of the main participants.
The pleasure is far from free for couturiers, but they gladly take advantage of this opportunity to make a name for themselves. Russian designer Ulyana Sergeenko was one of those who managed to do so. In 2016, she came to the Week as an official participant.
As of today, the list of those guaranteed to take part in the magnificent show is opened by the leaders of high style – the house of Chanel with its main inspirer Karl Lagerfeld, the house of Christian Dior with the brand new creative director Maria Chiuri.
The shows are held in the most beautiful places of the French capital. Chanel’s 2016 fashion show was held under the glass dome of the Grand Palais, where a three-level house without a facade was installed especially for the event. The houses of Givenchy and Christian Lacroix also have a “perpetual ticket”
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