Haute Couture

Haute Couture Houses

mode a paris

The actual term 'haute couture' is protected by law and according to the Syndical Chamber for Haute Couture, "only those companies mentioned on the list drawn up each year by a commission domiciled at the Ministry for Industry are entitled to avail themselves thereof".

The criteria to which a fashion house must adhere in order to be categorised haute couture were laid down in 1945 and updated in 1992.

These rules are simple, to be designated as haute couture a minimum of fifteen people must be employed at the workshops and must present to the press in Paris each season (spring/summer and autumn/winter) a collection of at least thirty-five runs consisting of models for daytime wear and evening wear.

At the time of writing, members of the Syndicate Chamber of Parisian Couture are as follows:

Adeline Andre : Emanuel Ungaro: : Chanel: : Christian Dior : Franck Sorbier :

Givenchy : Christian Lacroix : Dominique Sirop :

Jean Louis Scherrer : Jean Paul Gaultier :

In January 2005, seven more couture houses were invited to show there collections:

Elie Saab: On Aura Tout VU : Laurent Mercier :

Ralph Rucci :Marc Le Bihan : Ste Phane Saunier : Maurizio Galante :

Haute Couture Fall 2007 Paris

John Galliano kicks off Paris Haute Couture from Versailles Palace

The highest fashion event of the year has begun with a star-studded show at the Palais de Versailles in Paris.

The first show was put on by British designer John Galliano for Christian Dior's Fall-Winter 2007/2008 Haute Couture collection. (This is generally held on the eve of the Paris show itself - in this case July 3rd 2007).

Galliano's fashions paid homage to the works of painters ranging from Leonardo da Vinci to Pablo Picasso.

History of Haute Couture

Since the great age of Louis XIV and his extravagant court, France has been the yardstick for fashion.

Haute Couture is a craft that has endured and evolved for more than one hundred and fifty years.

It is a gentleman named Charles Frédéric Worth who holds the honour of being the originator of Haute Couture. In 1858 he founded the first true house of haute couture at 7, rue de la Paix, in Paris.