The Importance of Couture

By Esme Carty

Photography and Set Design by Sammy Allen

Production Assist and Styled by Emily Nelson

Makeup by Odalis Ramirez

Modeled by Brooke Barnes

Garments designed by Alexander Diesner

Accessories provided by Newell Vintage

True fashion begins in the mind of the designer and is worked on with the utmost detailing by the designer and their team. It is more than just commercial appeal. It is a story in the form of apparel. Every detail has its own characteristic and purpose for both utilization and how it charms the eye. The process of constructing a garment starts within the fashion house. Couture represents the fusion of fashion and costume. Clothing serves both a practical use and an art form that allows the person that wears it to express themselves or contort into a character. 

Couture was founded in the middle of the nineteenth century in Paris, France. Napoleon III had come into power and had a grand vision for both the city of Paris and the entirety of France. He pushed for the modernization of France, which would revitalize the French economy and make Paris into a showpiece of Europe. The demand for luxury goods and fashionable dress reached levels that had not been seen since before the French Revolution at the end of the eighteenth century. 

Charles Frederick Worth was a prominent piece in making Paris a place of luxury and fashion. He first worked as a salesman at a prominent French fashion firm, House of Gagelin, which sold textile goods, shawls, and ready-made garments. Eventually, Worth opened his own dressmaking department of Gagelin, which led him to develop a great reputation as a dressmaker. Thirteen years after working for Gagelin and managing to develop his own department, he opened up his own fashion firm with a business partner in 1858: The House of Worth. 

Cut back to Napoleon III and his wife Empress Eugènie–Worth gained notoriety when the Empress utilized his talents to design clothing for her. Worth is especially known for creating a variety of designs that were modeled live to an audience at the House of Worth. Clients would make their selections and have garments tailor-made in Worth’s workshop. Worth was by no means the first or only designer to organize his business in this way, however, his aggressive self-promotion earned him the title of “Father of Haute Couture.”

Fast fashion eliminates the intentionality and originality of fashion and design. Factories and websites replace fashion houses. Mass production replaces one of a kind pieces and exclusive collections. While it may feel as if fast fashion is bringing fashion to those who cannot afford designer clothes, it is erasing the art of fashion and keeping people from discovering the importance of making clothing, original ideas, and recycling clothing that can find a new purpose in the hands of someone new. Keep couture alive and discover what fashion is minus the booming voice of capitalism overtaking the delicate song in which design creates for the eyes and to the touch.