Courting Couture
July 1st 2008 09:03
In today’s world of high street fashion, instant gratification and online shopping, has couture become irrelevant? The mere thought of Dior haute couture may get many a heart racing and fuel the desire for a second and third job amongst the mere fashion mortals amongst us, but when it boils down to it, does couture play that much of a role in fashion any more? I put down the latest Vogue to consider the issue with the seriousness it deserves.
The days of Chanel couture inspiring and influencing the every day wear of upper class women seems somewhat of an historical period. Without a doubt the top fashion houses of the world are still revered and their fashion aspired to, but the ready to wear collections by the likes of Dior are what we fashion loving customers are really after. The era of spending tens of thousands of dollars on a handmade gown that takes weeks if not months to create does seem to have become a thing of the past, and realistically when your mortgage repayments are 70% of your salary, it’s easy to see why.
That said, many a woman turns to couture when it comes to her wedding. Christian Lacroix it may not be, but handmade with a price tag into the thousands, and coming with months of waiting it most certainly is. So couture is alive and well, even amongst the every day happenings of our lives. Weddings are a good example of the ongoing relevancy of couture for more than one reason. This is the one day where appearance is paramount and regardless of how simple the wedding, the focus is primarily on the bride and her beauty. A bride on her wedding day, like couture, can be considered a cherished piece of art.
Which leads me to my main point of why couture will always, always be relevant. Essentially couture is about art. The root of fashion lies in the design, and all of us who appreciate the artistry that masters such as Lagerfeld and Valentino have continually demonstrated over the years understand that their couture is an art form. And an amazingly beautiful one at that. Impractical, often seemingly impossible to wear fashion that often makes up couture collections is a true demonstration of the undeniably creative minds of these fashion geniuses. From the talent required to design what we see in an Armani couture gown to the endless hours of dedicated skill taken to put such a creation together, when looked at from an artistic viewpoint the question of couture’s relevance to fashion itself becomes irrelevant.
There is no denying that there is art at work, beautiful fashion masterpieces in the making, happening when couture begins its life at the designer’s desk. And there is no denying that art is universally and endlessly relevant, which means never, ever, shall couture be irrelevant. And we can all thank our fashion gods for that.
The days of Chanel couture inspiring and influencing the every day wear of upper class women seems somewhat of an historical period. Without a doubt the top fashion houses of the world are still revered and their fashion aspired to, but the ready to wear collections by the likes of Dior are what we fashion loving customers are really after. The era of spending tens of thousands of dollars on a handmade gown that takes weeks if not months to create does seem to have become a thing of the past, and realistically when your mortgage repayments are 70% of your salary, it’s easy to see why.
That said, many a woman turns to couture when it comes to her wedding. Christian Lacroix it may not be, but handmade with a price tag into the thousands, and coming with months of waiting it most certainly is. So couture is alive and well, even amongst the every day happenings of our lives. Weddings are a good example of the ongoing relevancy of couture for more than one reason. This is the one day where appearance is paramount and regardless of how simple the wedding, the focus is primarily on the bride and her beauty. A bride on her wedding day, like couture, can be considered a cherished piece of art.
Which leads me to my main point of why couture will always, always be relevant. Essentially couture is about art. The root of fashion lies in the design, and all of us who appreciate the artistry that masters such as Lagerfeld and Valentino have continually demonstrated over the years understand that their couture is an art form. And an amazingly beautiful one at that. Impractical, often seemingly impossible to wear fashion that often makes up couture collections is a true demonstration of the undeniably creative minds of these fashion geniuses. From the talent required to design what we see in an Armani couture gown to the endless hours of dedicated skill taken to put such a creation together, when looked at from an artistic viewpoint the question of couture’s relevance to fashion itself becomes irrelevant.
There is no denying that there is art at work, beautiful fashion masterpieces in the making, happening when couture begins its life at the designer’s desk. And there is no denying that art is universally and endlessly relevant, which means never, ever, shall couture be irrelevant. And we can all thank our fashion gods for that.
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