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Try to think about the last time you did something in terms of the amount of time you consider necessary to adequately complete that task. No rush, no rush. Time is a scarce commodity. So far away that many cannot even allow themselves to stop for the seconds necessary to realize that they are missing. We do everything so fast (we want everything so fast) that being able to do (or have) that which requires time is the ultimate luxury. In fashion, time is haute couture, and no one knows its importance better than the petite mains, as the people who work in the ateliers of the few firms that are part of the most exclusive universe of the industry are known.

Full of mysteries, there is a lot of mythology around the strict rules that regulate it, about the clients (about 4,000 around the world) who do not know each other, about the final sum of their bills.

Haute couture

Full of mysteries, there is a lot of mythology around the strict rules that regulate it

Established in 1945 under the impulse of Charles Frederick Worth, creator of the first modern couture house, the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM) of Paris is its governing body, which in addition to couture also supervises the weeks of the women’s and men’s ready-to-wear fashion.

Its president is Bruno Pavlovsky, also president of Chanel; and its board of directors includes from Delphine Arnault (director and executive vice president of Louis Vuitton and president and CEO of Dior) to Francesca Bellettini (deputy director of Kering) and Cédric Charbit (executive director of Balenciaga). In other words: as in Worth’s time, the organization is regulated by those who most want to protect it.

The Federation creates the rules, establishes the minimums that a firm must meet to consider its creations haute couture. Among the best known are that the company that wishes to obtain haute couture certification must create custom-made garments, with at least one private fitting to make adjustments, and have a minimum of 15 full-time employees, in addition to 20 technical workers also employed. full time in one of their workshops. Each new collection, presented in January or July, must feature a minimum of 50 new day and night looks. Once those rules are established, there are opportunities to break them.

THE FHCM often makes exceptions, but not before taking its time to deliberate. Iris Van Herpen, the Dutch creator who combines technology and craftsmanship to shape pieces that seem like science fiction, presented only nine designs in her latest collection. In addition, innovation is in the very DNA of her firm, which is why she does not always safeguard the principle that everything must be made by hand. Dior has also been an exception to its rules.

Each new collection, presented in January or July, must feature a minimum of 50 new day and night looks

In the Fall/Winter 2018 Collection, Maria-Grazia Chiuri presented a series of hyper-clean silhouettes, with complicated internal structures but simple in appearance. Her intention was to demonstrate that rules are necessary, but that they should stimulate creativity and the search for new solutions and paths to comply with them instead of standardizing.

Although the processes are traditional, haute couture is the field in which designers can experiment, or become familiar with a new brand. In 2019, Daniel Roseberry first demonstrated that he understood Schiaparelli’s surrealist principles in the sewing division, feeling most comfortable in that category to tell new stories with the codes of the maison.

In total, 32 sewing companies participated in the latest edition of their fashion week. Of them, only 15 are full members of the Federation, and 17 are invited members. Among them are the Spanish Juana Martín, who has already participated three times; and the American Thom Browne. At its premiere at the Opéra Garnier, he once again made the gray suit his central theme in a collection for men and women that the audience contemplated in chairs placed backstage, overlooking a stalls occupied by cardboard figures.

Haute couture is the dream, a difficult-to-access world that creates spectacular images. That also makes it an advertising machine, a strategy that generates sales of ready-to-wear, perfumes or makeup. At the same time it is a celebration of so-called savoir faire, creativity and talent. Acquiring and cultivating these three aspects takes time, and the luxury industry would leave its reason for being behind if it stopped granting it to them.

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