[farou7a]

^ true.

couture should remain exclusively with designers who are dedicated.

[Crying Diamonds]

Oscar de la Renta, Balmain's couture designer?
Is this a recent article?

[farou7a]

yes. as recent as 4th may.

here's the link

http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/daily/10...ta-debate.aspx

[Crying Diamonds]

Oh I get it, sorry.
Couture can't be over, if couture dies then fashion just becomes clothes basic manufacturing, and any sense of beauty, aspiration or art vanishes.

[farou7a]

oh not at all dont worry about it.

i agree. they will be mere seamstresses and whatever the male version of that is called.
in this economy the prices should come down.

but whatever the price, couture is couture and finishing touches are very important. the hard work shows in the way the finishing touches are presented imo.

[á la Balenciaga]

i wouldn't be surprised if other designers file for bankruptcy.
people don't buy couture. is extremely expensive and the way the economy
is, it would be stupid to spend a million bucks on a dress.

im sorry, but the high fashion world is crumling into pieces.

[eternitygoddess]

It better not be over.

I'm cramming my @ss off in school to get a good job and afford to collect haute couture.

[farou7a]

well i hope it isnt over but i certainly hope they dont get lazy about it either if prices fall.

[TREVOFASHIONISTO]

how could he say something like that
i think that was stupid on his behalf

[shopsmuch]

SGaspar--I don't think de la Renta was suggesting that those finishing touches are not important. I think he was just saying that it's becoming irrelevant in a time when we have wondrously made $10k wedding dresses and very few discerning couture customers are left who can tell the difference (trust me, very few women sit and examine the seams of their wedding dress), let alone the wedding guests--most people don't give a rat's *** about "finishing touches", nor could they tell the difference.

My wedding dress is $10k. I can't afford a million-dollar dress, but for $10k I can have the designer do all of my measurements by hand and then have luxe fabrics hand sewn, accented by hand beading, with a built-in corset that gives me a figure that is indistinguishable between that and the figure given to me by the corset in a piece of couture. If I can get that for a hundredth of the price of a $1 mil wedding dress, why the heck would I buy the $1 mil wedding dress when no one can tell, I have nowhere to display the dress, and I'm currently no one of importance so it'll probably just end up in someone's attic in a few generations anyway?

I wish couture wouldn't die. I hate to imagine the end of exquisite wearable art. But unless they can make it affordable to a larger swath of the population, and people can be convinced of its importance...it's gonna die.

[Leeroi]

Guys, Squizree posted an article in this thread: http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f60...y-61691-2.html

It contains the part posted by the OP.

There really isn't anything wrong with what Oscar De La Renta said. It's completely understandable.

[eternitygoddess]

Quote:

But unless they can make it affordable to a larger swath of the population, and people can be convinced of its importance...it's gonna die.

But couture isn't for the masses. That's what makes it so special and distinguishable. For couture to have to pander to the masses would be the death knoll for art.

[farou7a]

^ good point

[shopsmuch]

Nope, I didn't say it needs to be accessible to the masses, it never will be because it costs so much, period. But the fact of the matter is that a few hundred people driving the entire couture industry isn't feasible. They need to make it affordable and appealing to a bit larger a percent of the world population or the lack of demand is going to make it impossible for ateliers to stay in business, the most luxurious fabrics to continue to be produced, etc. It may be art, but it's still a business, and business can't continue to operate in the hole. There were more couture customers in the 1960's than there are now and it still had plenty an air of exclusivity and value.
It doesn't need to go gauche or anything. No one needs to "pander to the masses". They need to have better PR or something. Convince the wealthy that a couture piece is desirable and worth spending their money on. Convince them they need it as much or more, and it has as much value, as an expensive painting or sculpture.

[ErnstLudwig]

it's only promotion & demonstration of power by big brands! And I avoid calling it “art”, because it’s purpose is plain financial business.

Of cause the media, hotels, event management guys… also profit from it so I doubt it will die. But this “$10,000 wedding dress will look as beautiful as a $1 million wedding” argument is ridiculous… you get a made to measure one for less then 10.000, I don’t need it to be made out of feathers of extinct birds. People that buy it NOW buy it BECAUSE it’s expensive and one of a kind and to show off / or simply posses it. It completely lacks rational arguments buying it…