I have always been a couture lover, I find them like the most inspirational runways of all, they're like a dream, coming out of fantasy/luxury world. The work you can admire in each piece it's amazing. You can see all the craftmanship and love sewn into a dress, tailor suit, headpieces, shoes, anything. But unfortunately, haute couture is extremely expensive and has a limited amount of customer, is very closed and it's only accesible to billionaries in the world, or princesses, able to afford more than $100.000 into a single dress.
Oscar De La Renta, who designed for Balmain Couture for nine years (1993-2002) said that couture has become irrelevant. "Couture isn’t necessary, even to promote the brand. Customers are smart. They know that a $10,000 wedding dress will look as beautiful as a $1 million wedding dress. Maybe it will not be finished the same way inside, but who will know?", he added. People from the fashion industry is affirming that they don't need to do a couture show/collection, which is very expensive to make, to promote their label and that's why they have pre-fall, resort, daywear, etc.
So is haute couture its dead throes? I guess that's something I can't answer. I think it's a matter of time. Right now they say that the only women buying it are the ones from the Middle East and Russia. "For this very moneyed class, it’s less about the luxuriousness of wearing exquisite handmade to-order creations and more about conspicuous consumption and making museums out of their closets," says Journal.
"Analyzing" what De La Renta said, I think that couture has been unique and appreciated by the amount of work they put in every piece, the exclusivity of it, the richness of the fabrics and embroidery, plus a thousand things more... I think all of that should be appreciate and not compared to ready-to-wear clothes, because both have their function and value. It's sad. McQueen died, Izzy too, Lacroix and now couture has an uncertain future.
We'll see what's gonna happen, hopefully it will remain alive and we will be able to see more of this uniqueness. Here are some photos from Vogue Italy with pieces from Spring 2005 Couture.
Christian Dior Haute Couture.
Christian Dior Haute Couture.
Valentino Couture.
Christian Dior Haute Couture.
It might be just a matter of time, as some people might think, but as long as there are monarchs and billionaires in the world there will still be haute couture buyers.
ReplyDeleteSome people think that pret-à-porter is the evolution of haute couture others think the contrary, who knows... The point is that it'd be a shame if all fashion houses like Dior or Chanel stop designing these exquisite collections that fulfill the sight of those who can't even dream of affording it, and those who get to wear them once and then make them part of their own wardrobe/museum.