What Is Couture Clothing? Made-to-Order Fashion Explained

Couture clothing is fashion made to order for an individual client, with fittings and a high level of handwork.

What it means

Wikipedia defines haute couture as exclusive, custom-fitted, high-end fashion design, often made from unusual, high-quality fabrics and finished with hand-executed techniques. Couture is the common shortened form.

Couture versus ready-to-wear

• Couture is made for one client, with fittings.
• Ready-to-wear is made in standard sizes and sold in shops.
• Many designers also use the word couture loosely in brand names, even though the protected term haute couture is limited to eligible houses.

The protected term

French law protects haute couture. A commission at the Ministry for Industry lists the houses eligible to use it each year. The 1945 criteria included making garments to order with fittings and having a Paris workshop.

Facts are from Wikipedia’s Haute couture entry at the time of writing.

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