Demi-Couture

[ilaughead]

i veto the Dolce. while it's pretty, i wouldn't say its got anything to do with Haute Couture. unless all the crystals are elaborately handapplied in some atelier in Paris...

high prices =/= demi-couture.

it has to have something beside embroidery to really "elevate it" from just expensive and elaborate RTW. a certain artful touch. some special technique.

like those t-shirts from The Row with the single seam in the back which was sewn in a certain special couture technique (forgot the specifics).

I'm not seeing why we need to argue about what is and isn't demi-couture, as there is no formal definition and it doesn't have any of the firm rules of haute couture, but price seems to be just as good of a way to separate it from normal RTW as anything. Even some of (in my opinion) the best couture has little in the way of special techniques. Look at Chanel couture, for example. Beautiful clothes, but most of them (sans the S/S09 collection) owe their brillance to beautiful beading and embellishment, not to sewing skills. (By the way, the Row's back seam is just a French seam, if I remember correctly, and it's not something that is all that special.)

 

[gius]

you know, Lesage has often done embroidery for Dolce & Gabbana..
they would be out of business without RTW

I saw a clip of the man in a little show I think it was. He seems quite happy about it actually

 

[Lackuiew]

Ugh.. the embroidery is simply a mess

 

[eternitygoddess]

i veto the Dolce. while it's pretty, i wouldn't say its got anything to do with Haute Couture. unless all the crystals are elaborately handapplied in some atelier in Paris...

high prices =/= demi-couture.

it has to have something beside embroidery to really "elevate it" from just expensive and elaborate RTW. a certain artful touch. some special technique.

I was thinking the same thing. The only reason I see why the Dolce's price is high is because they piled loads of crystals on it.

 

[FashionPower]

I would love to know all the prices from the final gowns of Dolce FW07,especially the dress on Snejana!

 

[Crying Diamonds]

I was thinking the same thing. The only reason I see why the Dolce's price is high is because they piled loads of crystals on it.

The crystals would have been hand-sewn on. Hence the six-figure price-tag.

 

[Crimson C.C]

The tragedy of these beautiful things is the cost. But if you were an art collector there is no such tragedy.

 

[Spike413]

I can't fathom how YSL or Balenciaga could survive the recession with those prices.... yet they continue, seemingly unfazed.

Those are show pieces that either don't go into production at all, are made to order, or are done in limited quantity (maybe 4 or 5 made in total).

In the case of those D&G gowns yes, they're "just beaded", but the beadwork is of similar quality to the beadwork done for couture. I believe those gowns were beaded by Lesage. I'm almost positive that the colorful op-art ones from S/S 07 were as well.

I think the two most important distinctions to make between demi-couture and haute couture are;

• haute couture is custom built to the clients body, demi couture isn't

• haute couture is made mostly, if not entirely by hand (that means the sewing of seams, seam finishes, linings, pleats, tucks, drapes and all of the inner-workings that aren't even seen like interfacings, tapes, padding, boning, as well as the surface decoration). Demi-couture involves only partial handwork. Chances are that a lot of the basic construction is done by machine

So there are some rules about what makes something demi-couture. There has to be some kind of couture technique/workmanship involved.

 

[FashionPower]

I would love to post some Balmain!

One shoulder ruffle sequin mini dress € 10773.00

embellished denim jeans € 6500.00

style

 

[dior_couture1245]

^^I hardly consider Balmain demi-couture.

Embellishment does not constitute demi-cuture.

 

[gius]

i think the thread's getting out of hand.. just because there's a high price does not mean it's demi couture (and also embellishment, like dior_couture says)


and i think 6,000 lbs is not very much tbh...

 

[Crying Diamonds]

I agree. Let's side-line the price and concentrate on the quality of couture in pret-a-porter.

Giambattista Valli
A/W 09-10

The details of this, my favourite of all shows, have always taken my breath away - especially the detail of the arm-hole in the one large red fur-backed coat where it goes from seam into hem so crisply.

And this one, seemingly plain dress draws back to reveal a cascade of white scales.

style.com
screepcap and edited by me from the Giambattista Valli A/W 08-09 video from giambattistavalli.com

 

[Street_a_Licious]

okay, IA with the Vallis. Balmain... not so much. if we'd consider Balmain's blue sequin nightmare Demi-Couture than Bedazzler-happy Frida would be churning out Demi-Couture season after season.

 

[Chanelcouture09]

Balenciaga Spring Summer 2009

Dress - £63,165 (Pleated Crinoline with Embroidered with Fringes of Transparent Pearls)

Alexander McQueen Spring Summer 2012

Dress - £28,000 (Printed Chiffon Bustier).

Under Skirt - £1,120 (Printed Chiffon and Lace)

Jacket - £6,355 (Pearl Embroidered)

Skirt - £7,475

*Style.com

 

[Chanelcouture09]

Giambattista Valli Spring Summer 2009


I read somewhere that these dresses were only ever produced in 5 units per look and sold exclusively at Browns in London, and were sold on appointment only.

*Style.com

 

[Thefrenchy]

^Those are gorgeous!

 

[christian zh]

Semi-Couture Collections

Alexander McQueen S/S 2008

Alexander McQueen S/S 2010

Balmain S/S 2009

-style.com

 

[christian zh]

Christian Dior Fall/Winter 2007

Christian Dior Spring/Summer 2008

Christian Dior F/W 2008

-style.com

 

[christian zh]

Christian Dior Spring/Summer 2009

-style.com

 

[christian zh]

Versace S/S 2009

Versace F/W 2009

Versace S/S 2010

-style.com