Sometime after Contradictions, Michelle and I were in New York and visited my professor, Julian, at his loft in Greenwich Village. I told him about the show and how I was interested in getting an internship in Paris, although I hadn't figured out how to make this happen. He said his friend, who I had met briefly when she came up for our class art show the year before, might be able to help me. He talked to her and she said that she thought that I should intern for a couture house, to really see the epitome of fashion. She was a big couture client and forwarded my resume to the different couture houses.
Before I continue my story, I want to enlighten my readers with the true definition of "haute couture," because before this all happened I was pretty much in the dark and now when I hear some really bad shit described as "couture" I get a little irritated. The BBC actually did a good documentary on it, which you can view here. In French, "haute" literally means high and "couture" means sewing or dressmaking (or seam, depending on the context). As Dior's haughty Directrice de la Haute Couture informed me, haute couture is clothing made by one of a dozen houses, or maisons de la couture, approved by the Chambre Syndicale which regulates the haute couture industry. The clothing is made specifically for the client and is therefore one-of-a-kind. The Chambre Syndicale has strict rules for which houses can be considered haute couture, including the following:
- Design made-to-order for private clients, with one or more fittings.
- Have a workshop (atelier) in Paris that employs at least fifteen people full-time.
- Each season (i.e. twice a year), present a collection to the Paris press, comprising at least thirty-five runs with outfits for both daytime wear and evening wear.
The other big component of the cost is the labor. The workers, or "petits mains," at the ateliers of these houses start training when they are in their teens and generally work their way up from apprentices to the head of the atelier. They don't generally get paid a ton, but couture garments can take hundreds of hours to make. A lot of the work is done by hand and whereas many short-cuts are taken in ready-to-wear (or "pret-a-porter"), couture garments are expected to look as beautiful on the inside as they do on the outside. The inner construction is carefully hidden and the littlest details, like the finishing of a hem or a seam, are regarded with great importance.
Clients start with a meeting with the directrice, generally after the haute couture show, or defile. They describe what garments they are interested in -- generally they won't want the garment as shown on the runway. Often the looks on the runway are quite outlandish, to show off the craft and the capabilities of the house. The client might ask for a suit or dress made from the fabrics in one of the outfits on the runway. An illustrator attends the meetings and sketches an idea of what the client wants. The sketches are given to whichever atelier will be responsible. There is an atelier flou, for dresses and softer, draped garments, and an atelier tailleur, for tailored garments.
The client gets a fitting where appropriate measurements are recorded and placed in the client's file. A mannequin that is slightly smaller than the client is taken and padding is added where appropriate to resemble the client's form as much as possible. For instance, if the client's hips are a little wider than the mannequin, the padding is added there. A prototype, or "toile," is made out of muslin of the outfit. The client is fitted with this proto and the appropriate changes are made. They use the muslin because the fabric is so expensive they don't want to mess up on the first round. After this first fitting the garment is begun, though not finished, and with large seam allowances (seam allowances on most garments these days are around 1/2" wide, maybe 1" at the most -- haute couture garments generally have 2" or wider seam allowances). The atelier workers are quite skilled so once the garment is finished and they have another fitting the garment fits the client beautifully. However, if the garment is not correct, the atelier will work until it is perfect. The atelier workers have extremely strict standards and see imperfections that most people, even many dressmakers, might not catch. Also, if the client happens to gain or lose weight in the future, they can always come in and get the garment altered to fit them correctly.
Haute couture is generally a money-losing business (with the exception of Chanel), which is why many couture houses have shut down. Despite the high costs of the garments, it's hard to make money since the fashion shows cost millions of dollars, the cost of French labor is high, and there aren't many couture clients left. The ones that carry on do it for the publicity to maintain brand cachet and prop up the fragrance and accessories businesses that are the true moneymakers for the brand. However, because of the resources available to the biggest couture houses, including the level of crafstmanship, haute couture is truly where fashion and art intersect. This was why I jumped at the chance of getting to witness how this world worked firsthand.
The first hurdle was an interview with Dior's Directrice, a Madame Riviere. I missed her while she was meeting with clients in New York (she flies all over the world to meet with clients and do fittings since some clients don't have the time or simply can't be bothered with flying to Paris) since I was in school in Boston, so it was decided I would interview with her at the Dior headquarters in Paris, during my first trip to Paris ever.
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