High Fashion – How clothing became haute couture – Versace, Dior & Co.

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High Fashion – In 1857/8 the founder of Haute Couture Charles Frederick Worth opened the first fashion house. The English fashion designer was born in 1825 in Bourne, Lincolnshire and was first seen as an artist rather than a craftsman. The Englishman only wanted to sell his best pieces to the highest echelons of the country, as his influence on fashion as a whole was very great. Since then, Worth has had an enormous influence on the fashion designers after him. However, fashion is going through a constant change and changes accordingly.
Haute couture is understood to be elaborate fashion creations that are finely crafted and custom-made. Mostly it concerns exclusive robes, which are manufactured in Paris. There are only about 200 couture customers worldwide who maintain the art of handicraft. The unique pieces are presented at fashion shows in the major fashion capitals and represent the respective designer and his or her collection. Due to the uniqueness of haute couture, it is therefore also called the supreme discipline of fashion.

Overview hide
High Fashion: Chanel, Dior and Yves Saint Laurent
Famous High Fashion Designer
High fashion shows
Haute Couture and Prêt-à-porter – the difference

High Fashion: Chanel, Dior and Yves Saint Laurent

At fashion shows, which take place twice a year in Paris, the latest creations of famous designers are introduced and presented. But not every designer is allowed to call his collection Haute Couture. In order to obtain the rights to do so, some requirements of the fashion association must be met. Firstly, the fashion company must have at least 20 full-time employees and be located in the fashion metropolis of Paris. In addition, at least 35 designed models must be presented twice a year, all of which are tailor-made and handmade unique pieces. Only when these criteria are met is it possible to be accepted into the circle of couturiers. Here I have summarized the requirements once again.

  • Location of the company in Paris
  • at least 20 full-time employees
  • present at least 35 models twice a year
  • handmade and custom-made unique specimens

Emancipation by Haute Couture

In the past, women often had to cope with the household at home and men had to go to work and bring the money home.  In the middle of the 19th century the first sewing machine came onto the market and some women started to produce and pass on clothes in homework. After this development, haute couture came into being. In France, “haute couture” is a legally protected term reserved for the women’s fashion of fashion houses authorised by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture to designate their works as haute couture. Haute couture basically stands for “upmarket tailoring”.  The profession of the fashion designer developed and there were more and more unique pieces and private orders. According to Charles Frederick Worth, famous French designers such as Christian Dior and Coco Chanel had a great influence on the development of haute couture. In 1868, the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture was founded, which was to be regarded as the worldwide representation of the craft trade.

High Fashion – Fashion in the course of time

The expenditure for the ladies fashion became bigger and bigger and the result more and more conspicuous. The women began to wear more and more skirts and tighter tops. It was particularly modern to appear on the street with a hat. A real fashion revolution began in 1900. Now changes began where it was possible. Women could proudly present themselves on catwalks and wear clothes that would have been unthinkable before. Women wore trousers or short skirts for the first time. During this time, Yves Saint Laurent ensured that women could even present themselves in transparent dresses and blouses. The society saw the whole thing mixed, some held their hands only shaking their heads in front of their eyes and many women, on the other hand, were completely enthusiastic. Yves Saint Laurent was not only once a hot topic of discussion at this time, he became again the topic of conversation number 1, when many different figure-hugging completely black dresses, reminiscent of rocker fashion, were launched on the market.  Not only the trousers for the woman were copied from the men’s fashion. From then on, some of the women’s wardrobes also contained plain, practical clothing that did not have to be overly striking. From now on, the woman could always dress appropriately for the occasion. The women became more and more independent and the skirts shorter. From also times sporty appearance of the woman became elegance. The skirts and blouses of the women were accentuated in some places, but only so that it still looked elegant and not too naked. An example for you, so that you can imagine this time better, is the Godet-Rock. With the time it came to princess dresses and even costumes. The blouses of the ladies were more and more often equipped with shoulder pads.

Christian Dior brings new fashion ideas

In the middle of the 20th century Christian Dior brought new impetus to the fashion world. They say fashion comes back over time. In Christian Dior’s fashion, you can see that’s true. He puts again on wide skirts and narrow tops. At the beginning of the fashion world the famous female designers were rather women, in the middle of the 20th century there were many male designers. The bottom, the breasts and the hips of the woman were more and more accentuated in fashion. In the 60’s the jeans finally gained acceptance in Europe and until today they have persisted in the fashion industry. Another scandal in the fashion industry was the mini skirt. At first he was only represented in the youth and there was much discussion about it. With toys like the Barbie doll children were taught from an early age what is beautiful and so the first big scandal finally prevailed as a very long-lasting fashion trend.

The latest high fashion trends

As already mentioned, all fashion trends come back again and again, becoming even more extreme and diverse. Nowadays there is hardly any taboo topic. There is no limit to the creativity of the designers and everything that is possible is tried out. So we live in a very beautiful fashion era, in which we can live out ourselves perfectly and wear what we want. From PVC clothing, fringe clothing, oversize coats to crazy animal prints, everything is included. Let’s see what great fashion trends we can still experience.

Famous High Fashion Designer

There are countless high fashion designers who are responsible for the incredible variety on the catwalks and the constant change of fashion. Each one of them has influenced the fashion world and represents it in his own way through his collection. Whether Chanel, Versace, Dior and Co. – the famous haute couture designers are still among the most influential fashion designers in history and their products and collections are distributed worldwide on the market.

Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel probably tells everyone something. Her real name was actually Gabrielle Chanel. She was one of the most influential fashion designers of the 20th century. Coco Chanel, who grew up in an orphanage from the age of 13, draws an incredible amount of strength from her past and makes it to the very top of the fashion and beauty world. She’s a lion from the zodiac, which might explain her fighting spirit. Coco Chanel opens her first store at the age of 27 and changes the whole fashion world. There’s a lot of Chanel quotes. One of them is “I am against fashion that is fleeting. I can’t accept people throwing clothes away just because it’s spring.” Even today the Coco Chanel fans are completely crazy about the newest clothes. When a new collection is out, people immediately google: Chanel dresses. Coco Chanel has influenced the fashion world in many ways and left its mark. She adorned women’s fashion with long pearl necklaces, launched a very famous and successful perfume on the market, equipped handbags with chain straps and was particularly convincing with simple, knee-length dresses. However, the Chanel collections also have an incredible variety of different dresses to offer. The new autumn-winter collection includes many long and special dresses. Why don’t you see for yourself? And if you want to know more about Coco Chanel, you will also find a article about her life and her successes.

Calvin Small #Ck

Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who was born in New York City in 1942.  He graduated in fashion design in 1963. Calvin then worked for fashion houses until he finally launched his first collections. Calvin Klein convinces with simple, timeless designs and inspires fashion lovers again and again. Calvin Klein underwear is particularly popular. Everyone wants to own them, everyone wants to have at least one of the simple colours in their wardrobe. The sweaters are also particularly popular. Everyone probably knows the famous Calvin Klein lettering, which can be found on almost every Calvin Klein T-shirt and sweater.  But how do Calvin Klein and Haute Couture fit together? In fact, they go pretty well together. Under the name you will find not only simple basics, but also striking, unique fashion creations. Here you are Rihanna in a dress designed by Calvin Klein.

Christian Dior

Christian Dior was one of the most important fashion designers of the 20th century. He even founded his own fashion house in France. Not only did he revolutionise fashion in the middle of the 20th century, he still presents haute couture collections under his name today. His autumn-winter haute couture fashion show featured a wide variety of cut dresses, trouser suits and skirts. Usually the works are simply kept in one colour, but nevertheless they become something very special through special cuts and forms. His fashion above all very varied. It is not only limited to simple, elegant designs, but there are also striking, extravagant dresses. Christian Diors’ fashion fits perfectly into the haute couture category and will probably always remain very popular. See for yourself:

Michael Kors

Michael Kors has been at the forefront of high fashion for a long time. Everybody wants her. The Michael Kors bag. They come in all colours. You can combine it very well, because it is very often monochrome and still very high quality processed and looks. Michael Kors watches and shoes are also very popular. In one of our articles we wrote about ladies luxury watches, where watch lovers should definitely have a look. Haute couture fashion by Michael Kors is above all one thing: varied. If you look at the Winter Haute Couture by Michael Kors one thing immediately becomes clear, Michael Kors stands for colours. It is always combined again, what the stuff holds completely in contrast to the bags, which are often kept monochrome.

Philipp Plein

German fashion designer Philipp Plein has always been creative. The 40-year-old has put together his first bags and accessories from remaining exotic leathers. The Philipp Plein Jeans is particularly famous. Everyone wants them, there are them for women, for men in all different colours, shapes and sizes. But since not everyone can afford such expensive designer jeans, there is only 30 minutes from Düsseldorf enternt a Designer Outlet, where among other great Haute Couture brands there is also a Philipp Plein Store. If there is time and some money on the weekend, you should definitely stop by there. But what kind of haute couture comes onto the market under the name of Philipp Plein? They are very unusual, extravagant creations that appear under the name Philipp Pleins in the haute couture industry. Convince yourself:

High fashion shows

Who wouldn’t like to be part of a real fashion week? We have collected the most important information for you, so that you should get the feeling to have been there very closely. Here you can get some insights into what happened, but if you want to know every detail, there is an article linked to every Fashion Week, where you can find out everything.

Milan Fashion Week 2018

Milan Fashion Week plays the most important role ahead of the other famous fashion cities.  At the Milan Fashion Week, countless designers presented their new collections. From Roberto Cavalli, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana to Versace, everything was there. The Spring/Summer 2019 Fashion Week was brilliant. More variety is not possible. Especially beautiful looks could be seen from Emporio Armani. Love Moschino inspired with colourful outfits. For Prada, the new spring/summer collection is characterised by neon colours. Stars like Gigi Hadid, Kaia Gerber and Kendall Jenner hovered over the catwalk. In the auditorium the faces of Nicki Minaj, Chiara Ferragni and the French fashion icon Julia Restoin Roitfeld were discovered. You want to know more about Fashion Week Milan? Then read our article, which is completely limited to this topic: Fashion Week Milan.

Paris Fashion Week 2018

The time had come again recently: the Paris Fashion Week has taken place. There were great guests again. Among others Emma Stone, Sophie Turner, designer Marc Jacobs and Karlie Kloss.  Paris Fashion Week once again had a lot of great backdrops to offer. The designer of Yves Saint-Laurent Anthony Vaccarello lets the models who present his collection run through ankle-high water. The collections were very diverse from glitter robes, animal print clothing to huge hats to mini shorts for men. If you want to know more, we have a special article for you, which only goes over the Paris Fashion Week.

London Fashion Week 2018

The London Fashion Week 2018 featured famous faces. Supermodels Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss were seen together. They’ve always had a good relationship. The show ideas on this evening were once again great. There was an impressive laser show relative to the end. The Burberry collection in particular was particularly present at this Fashion Week. Italian designer Riccardo Tisci presented his first collection for Burberry. He not only changed the logo, but also the pattern of the company. Not only the models on the catwalks present the latest collection, but also Burberry lovers like Sienna Miller sat in the audience. An anti-fur demonstrator who walked on the catwalk caused a lot of excitement at this fashion week. Some very special evening dresses have attracted a lot of attention. Didn’t get enough? Here we have an extra article for you, in which you can read everything again exactly.

Berlin Fashion Week 2018

Of course there is also a great Fashion Week in Germany. It was particularly interesting that a ski fashion of the brand Bogner was presented. The presentation of the new fashion took place in the E-Werk of the main location of Mercedes Benz. Among the guests were former bachelor Sebastian Pannek, Sara Nuru and also hair and make-up artist Boris Entrup. You can find more information about the Berlin Fashion Week here.

New York Fashion Week 2018

In the fashion metropolis many models, stars and designers come to every Fashion Week. Among others the ex-GNTM candidate Carina Zavline, Gigi-Hadid on the catwalk and the Victoria-Secret angel Taylor Hill were present. The fashion show was something very special. Again it was especially colorful. The Boss collection impressed with its dark red shades in combination with rose tones.  A yellow dress from Christian Siriano’s collection has attracted a lot of attention. If you want to know more about what happened at the last Fashion Week in New York, read here: Fashion Week New York.

Haute Couture and Prêt-à-porter – the difference

Haute couture and prêt-á-porter. What’s that, anyway? Haute couture garments are made of very high quality material. Haute couture is the “leading tailoring art” for fashion. It is mostly handmade and therefore requires many hours of work. Haute couture has above all one task: to set trends. If you want to own a haute couture garment, you have to spend a lot of money, if you can sell it at all.  Prêt-à-porter, on the other hand, translated means “ready to wear”. This term refers to clothing sold in several sizes by fashion chains.

Prêt-à-porter – Zara, H&M, New Yorker, Vero Moda

Since you can’t always spend a lot of money on a basic shirt, if you want to buy everyday clothes, you usually head for shops like Zara, H&M or Vero Moda. These fashion chains offer fashionable clothing produced in large quantities and in all possible sizes. Without such fashion chains, the average citizen would probably only have a quarter of the clothes currently in the wardrobe. If you want to know more about prêt-à-porter fashion, read my extra article: Prêt-à-porter.

Haute Couture Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein

Haute couture only left to the very rich? No way. Just watching the models at a Fashion Week presenting the latest collections, even if it’s just a video recording, is a great thing. Fashion is something very varied and exciting.

Whether it’s haute couture or prêt-à-porter, we can’t possibly do without both.


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