History of Haute Couture - Case Study Example

History of Haute Couture Introduction Different scholars of the world have in the past referred Paris as the fashion epicenter compared to other major cities of the world such as London and Madrid but different individuals often find themselves wondering why Paris? Well, the answer is simple; Paris is the home of haute couture. Haute Couture is a high fashion that for centuries it has not only influenced the world’s fashion market but also made tremendous contributions to the world’s fashion industry (Agins, 1999, p. 44). Right from the medieval times when Haute Couture first came to be known, it has never vanished and up to date, this fashion remains iconic in the fashion industry. Many scholars of the world have associated haute couture with the classy and luxurious lifestyles. Going way back to the 17th and 18th century when fashion is believed to have been invented, French fashion trends were simply the best in the entire of Europe and the rich, wealthy and the powerful individuals of the world travelled across the borders just to have a taste of the classic outfits in the French fashion market. These encounters laid the foundation of the Haute Couture a fashion that would later revolutionize the entire world’s fashion industry (Tortora & Keith, 2010, p. 19). The Haute Couture that is known today by many individuals of the world originated in the 19th century and was founded by Sir Charles Fredrick Worth (Ginsburg, 1989, p. 55). This is the person the scholars of the world credit with title ‘the modern Couture founding father’. Having founded his own couture house in the early 1858, Sir Charles Fredrick Worth introduced to the world very important innovations to the fashion industry through organized fashion shows. Following the elegance display of dresses on live models, his fame spread across the world like a bush fire and his work pleased very powerful and wealthy individuals of the time the likes of the famous Princess Metternich. Several years down the line, Charles Fredrick Worth together with his sons founded an association for the Haute Couture Houses. This was simply a criterion that the fashion designers of the time had to meet in order to be declared as ‘couturiers’. Ever since, the name has not only been regulated by the specific criteria but has as well been regulated by the government of France and reserved for only a number of persons. There is an exclusive class of designers who are only allowed to use the label in their designs. In the recent past, eligible haute couture houses are only determined by a commission through the French Ministry of Industries (Jessa, 2004, p.1). Basically, haute couture refers to an outfit that has been created by one of the big designers of the world from Chanel, Dior, Versace, Givenchy and the likes of Sobier and Mabille (Diana, 2000, p.6). The world’s statistics have revealed that the haute couture houses produce approximately one thousand five hundred garments annually to their clients. This is so because these outfits are hand-made and therefore it takes time to fully complete working on one outfit. The haute couture outfits range from a price of twenty six thousand dollars to a hundred dollars with the price of the suits starting from sixteen thousand dollars and gowns at sixty thousand dollars. The haute couture outfits are expensive since they are made from very luxurious novelty fabrics, fine wools, linens, cotton, furs and the most expensive silks((Jessa, 2004, p.1). Most of the haute couture outfit customers are Americans and particularly the celebrities who either buy the outfits or hire them. Different celebrities have in the past revealed that wearing haute couture makes one look like the outfit was made on oneself (Wherry, 2008, p. 363-379). Despite the high prices, haute couture products still remain prestigious and iconic to the world’s fashion industry. Haute Couture and the world’s fashion industry Fashion is a style or a practice that is popular all over the world. It can simply be a makeup, an accessory, footwear, body piercing and skin drawings or even clothing. A fashion is normally a habitual trend of the individuals. Different scholars of the world have in the past associated fashions with social statuses in the society in that the different classes of individuals have their own fashion. Moreover, fashion is closely linked to the aspects of feminism and masculinity since fashions tend to vary with the gender. The most prominent fashion is the clothing fashion. Several historians of the world link the cloth fashion to as early as the 14th century. They further associate the trends in the fashion wears to the economic and social changes that took place in the different societies of the world. It is possible that fashion would be experienced in some communities of the world and not in others. Also, it is possible to find a certain fashion in a certain region and a different fashion in another region. Fashions in rural areas are also distinctive of the fashion in the urban areas. With the changing times and economic developments experienced across the world, fashion wears have eventually become alike. The fashion pace in both men and women has further been accelerated by the technological changes in the world today. Growth in technology has made it possible for individuals to easily communicate around the world. Communication has improved information sharing and information is crucial to the world’s fashion world. Some of the major influences and contributions of the haute couture to the fashion industry today include: Fashion designing as a profession When the first haute couture house was established in the late 1850s, it was faced with a number of responsibilities and one of them being to show at least two collections of fashion designs in every year and also to present a number of new patterns to the world cloth customers (Parkins, 2013, p.10). Today, fashion designing has been turned into a profession. Different scholars of the world today describe the fashion designing as one of the most appealing, exciting, glamorous and lucrative careers there are in the world. Today, fashion designers are among the best earning individuals in the world just from the simple idea developed by Charles Fredrick Worth in the first fashion show. Eventually, fashion designs have not only been applied in clothing but also in accessories such as bracelets and necklaces. The fashion designers are basically the movers of the consumer tastes and preferences and therefore the key determinants of the fashion wear trends of the world today. Showcasing fashion designs Apart from adhering to the standards of the fashion industry enforced by the French government, the haute couture houses were supposed to showcase two of their best collections every year in a fashion show or fashion shows. This idea has been integrated in the fashion world today. Every time and then, different fashion designers showcase their prominent and new fashion designs in different fashion shows organized across major cities of the world. Different scholars have viewed this as a marketing strategy to try and lure the potential customers. This marketing strategy was first proved to work during the 19th century for most of the haute couture houses used it as a strategy to lure potential buyers from all over the world where the haute couture outfits were showcased on live models. Today, it is not different at all only that the fashion showcasing has been embraced as a seasonal occurrence by the people of the world and not forgetting the fact that fashion shows have become such big events that are attended by very prominent persons. Unisex dressing Historically, the idea of unisex dressing can be dated back to 1960s. To be more specific, the idea originated from the haute couture houses developed by prominent couturiers such as Rudi Gernreich (Agins, 1999, p. 44). Such individuals felt that there was need to design some outfits that would suit both the males and the females. Apparently, attires such as leggings were meant to be worn by both genders. According to Berger (1972, p. 47), there are several things that led to the unisex dressing that popped up in the nineteenth century. One of such reasons being the fact that there was need to balance the genders in the society for the role of men in the society then was seen as active while that of women as passive. The clothes were therefore designed as a symbol of gender balance (Berger, 1972, p. 47). In today’s fashion world, the unisex clothing are very common and range from costumes; track suits, shirts and even pants. Such attires are regarded as socially appropriate for both the males and the females. The role played by haute couture in the Fashion Industry today Keepers of the traditional fashion designs Haute couture houses for centuries have capitalized on the traditional skills of producing expensive outfits. The traditional techniques of making these outfits are passed down from one generation to the other and through the haute couture outfits designs the legacy is preserved. This way, these techniques have been able to be preserved for centuries and they are not only decent but distinctive from the modern designs. Haute couture has therefore helped preserve the traditional designs and have remained dear and elegant to certain class of individuals. Haute couture is advantageous in that it is very hard for a customer to for example buy an outfit from Chanel that is similar to another outfit from Givenchy. This is because it is hard to find two hand-made outfits that are identical. Price-setting Chanel Company for example does not only specialize in haute couture but also deals with the luxurious products, accessories such as necklaces as well as the ready-to-wear clothes. Haute couture has been used by such companies to set the prices at which the company will sell the rest of its products. Setting such prices can be achieved through setting a standardized price that is affordable to everyone or since haute couture is known to be a high quality fashion, the company may decide to set prices that are higher than the market prices since the customers are already aware of their high quality products. Market niche For centuries, haute couture has remained quite a profitable segment in the fashion industry. As a result of the fact that it is not possible for a marketing niche to exist on its own, prominent companies in the fashion industry have integrated haute couture to capture new customers by ensuring that they fully satisfy all their wants and by providing classy high quality items as per the prescribed needs of the customers. Prestige image Today, the fashion industry is very competitive and the different companies in the industry are working relentlessly to ensure that they communicate a positive image to their customers across the world. Some other fashion companies do not only want to communicate the positive image but also build a reputation of high quality. Chanel Company for example is regarded as a dealer in high-quality products because one of its core products the company specializes in is haute couture. Haute couture in this case has helped the company develop a prestige image to the world. This further helps the company define its target population. Prestige is normally associated with the individuals belonging to a higher social rank in the society consisting of individuals who are rich and wealthy. Identity and originality The fashion industry today is largely faced by the problem of the copy-cats; individuals who do not want to be original and whom only want to leap where they never sowed. Most upcoming individuals and organizations in this industry have been struggling to solidly establish their ‘persona’. Companies such as Chanel have a prominent identity in the fashion industry of the world following the fact that it specializes in haute couture. This helps a company have a competitive advantage over some of its rivals in the market since most customers from all over the world are able to identify the company just from a single product it specializes in. This makes it easier for the company to even sell the other products they specialize in since the customers already know the company. Haute couture alone is a symbol of originality to the company since such products are hand-made. This therefore makes it even easier for the company to protect its intellectual property since haute couture products can never be reproduced by any other company in the fashion industry. Conclusion Right from the 18th century, haute couture has all along been that iconic figure in the world’s fashion industry portraying decency, class; quality and originality of the fashion designs. The different companies specializing in haute couture have had a relative share of the world’s fashion market and still continue to enjoy it even today. This is so because no matter how hard the ready-made outfits may try to drive the haute couture outfits out of the market, haute couture outfits will never fully disappear because there is still a class of individuals in the society who have a taste of these traditional classy outfits and not forgetting the fact that some of the haute couture outfits are occasional. Such outfits include the wedding gowns. In a nutshell, haute couture has made significant contributions to the world’s fashion industry in the past and still continues to drive this industry even in the 21st century. Bibliography Agins, Teri. 1999. The End of Fashion: the Mass Marketing of the Clothing Business. New York: Morrow, Print. Berger, John. 1972. "Ways of Seeing", BBC and Penguin. London, p. 47. Crane, Diana. 2000. Fashion and its Social Agendas: Class, Gender, and Identity in Clothing. Chicago, p. 6. Ginsburg, Madeleine. 1989. Paris Fashions: The Art Deco Style of the 1920s. New York. Krick, Jessa. 2004. “Charles Frederick Worth (1826–1895) and the House of Worth”. In Timeline of Art History. New York. http://www.metmuseum.org/t oah/hd/wrth/hd_wrth.html Parkins, Ilya. 2013. "Introduction: Reputation, Celebrity and the "Professional" Designer". Poiret, Dior and Schiaparelli: Fashion, Femininity and Modernity. (English ed. ed.). London: Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 10. ISBN: 9780857853288. Tortora, Phyllis G., and Keith Eubank. 2010. Survey of Historic Costume: a History of Western Dress. New York, NY: Fairchild Publications. Print. Wherry, Frederick F. 2008. “The Social Characterizations of Price: The Fool, the Faithful, the Frivolous, and the Frugal.” American Sociological Association Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 363-379. Read More