Defining the Confusing and Illegal World of ‘Haute Couture’

Welcome to the 186th insertion of DEMUR®, an analytical series highlighting the intricacies of the artistic world and the minutiae lying within. In this episode, we take to Paris, defining Haute Couture as fashion’s most misused term, while discovering its legalities and history.

If there are two terms that have been seemingly inescapable this past decade, the crown goes to Prêt-à-Porter and Haute Couture. Weightlessly thrown around, these words translate to describe the parallels in runway fashion, illustrating the accessible ready-to-wear circuit, and the grips of the industry’s most lucrative niche, high dressmaking. In essence, Haute Couture is regarded as the pinnacle of artistic expression, but what does that mean?

The origin of Haute Couture dates back to the 19th century, in relation to Englishman Charles Fredrick Worth. As an innovator in the luxury market, Worth would work to redefine the ethos of presentation and creation, ultimately deemed the first ‘couturier’. Above all, Worth’s practices would become the groundwork for Couture in the modern day.

Contrasting the comparatively lacklustre nature of ready-to-wear fittings, Haute Couture is backed by Parisian law and three separate trade associations. Founded in 1945, the overarching French Ministry alongside the Federation of Couture, Ready-to-wear and Design founded a hierarchy to monitor and admit select artisans under classification of Haute Couture.

While widely disputed, in order to be legally bound as an Haute Couture label, creatives must; design for private clients with four or more fittings not available to the public, employ a minimum of 15 full-time workers at an atelier in Paris as well as 20 in a separate workshop, craft all garments by hand, and present two collections each season with 35-50 original day and evening garments.

With such strict regulations, Couture can be easily associated with maximal, ‘unwearable’ design. Confused as eccentric runway performances stray further towards the likes of Haute Couture showings, unaware artisans can quickly fall under misclassifications or worse, the hands of the law.