What is Couture?
The term Haute Couture is French for “high needle work”. It is a protected term and can only be used officially by companies that meet strict standards set by the “Chambre Syndicale de la Couture”. This group governs the fashions houses that qualify as couture. These qualifications include number of employees, number of lines produced each season, amount of hours of hand work and quality of garments. Only a select number of designers are included and permitted to use the term Couture. Such members include Valentino, Versace, De Larenta, Armani, Lacroix, Chanel, Givenchy and a select few others.
Couture is also used to describe “made to measure” garments that are sewn of high quality fabrics, for an individual customer. Sewn with extreme attention to detail, using time consuming hand-executed techniques, the look and fit take priority over cost of materials and the time it takes to make the finished piece.
Such techniques are performed by a skilled “dressmaker”. This term refers to a custom clothier who is specialized in design and construction of dresses, evening gowns, bridal wear.
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