Before I talk about the programme I will quickly show where haute couture is on the fashion pyramid:
- Haute Couture
- Couture
- Designer
- High-end retailers
- High-street
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Couture fitting in New York - Image source
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What is haute couture?
Defined by the Oxford Dictionary, expensive, fashionable clothes produced by leading fashion houses". And expensive doesn't even begin to cover it.
Think beyond designer prices, beyond couture prices, we're talking blouses that cost £10,000 and dresses that cost £100,000.
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Carroll Petrice - Image source
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The documentary
Film maker Margy Kinmonth travels to the fashion capital of the world, Paris to try and gain more knowledge and understanding of the world of haute couture and the select few that are able to afford it. Kinmonth also visits New York and California on her journey, meeting Valentino, Karl Lagerfeld and other designers along the way to try and get a better understanding of this private world.
Clients are treated like doctor's patients, and the designers are reluctant to share too much information.
Throughout the documentary the women that are part of this lavish and luxurious lifestyle are referred to as "club members". While the term does do it's job in describing them as a community and a group of people, there's something about it I really can't stand. "Club", to me is such a basic and ordinary word, and for such a grand topic, I feel it almost discredits it. I prefer to use the term, "clients".
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Susan Gutfreund - Image source
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Couture = art?
"Well, I thought it was a dream. Very wearable, once you extract pieces and them down and rework them. What you see on the runway is never ultimately what goes on the customer's body. It's done for you, so once you get in the fitting room and in the atelier and you say, maybe, less sleeve, and drop the hip, and whatever, it really becomes a very wearable piece of art. It is a piece of art."
Throughout the programme I noticed that each "club member" kept referring to haute couture as a form of art. And when you see how beautifully made the dresses and garments are, it is hard to disagree. However, I find it hard to justify my thoughts of this point of view. As I watched and listened to their comparisons, I had to shake myself and remember they were talking about clothes. Whether it's Chanel, Dior, H&M or Primark, it's fashion. There's always going to be another dress, another coat, another blouse. With a piece of art or sculpture, I can see how a painting can stand a length of time. It's unlikely you'll be redecorating every season and a painting will be replaced. Sure, there's "timeless" pieces in fashion, but what is the likelihood you'll be found in exactly the same shape and wearing exactly the same pieces of clothing in 50 years time?
Members of this secret world are not only very rich, but also extremely discreet, and only a handful came forward to take part in the documentary. Those who did, allowed restricted access into their homes (I mean, mansions) and couture closets, presenting a display of immaculate hand made garments, all finished with a tag to show what year and event or occasion it had been worn to.
Perhaps one of things that surprised me the most was that if a member can fit into the dress the model wore on the runway, they get 30% off the price. If they don't, they have to pay the full price. Although it does seem a fair enough deal, I guess, as the amount of work and hours, not to mention the cost of the materials comes to an unimaginable price tag, it does reinforce the idea that you need to be and look a certain way to be in fashion. The 5'10" models do not represent the women in today's society, and even less so in the haute couture "club" (of which there are only about 200). I could go on, but I'll save that discussion for another day.
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