So what Happens to those Haute Couture Creations?

[chloehandbags]

And then of course, there is the other thing.. that everything worth wearing has already been invented. That for the last forty or so years and for all to come, it will be a question of RE-invention. And that everything that is, in deed, invented, is rather a "forced push" that does not come off as something natural, thus has absolutely no chance to persevere and remain.

Very true.

 

[5-Hour man]

Whoever said only 500 people in the world can afford HC dosn't really know much about economics - no offense. There's almost one thousand dollar billionaries in the world. And what does the most expensive HC creations cost? Probably much, much less than $ 2,000,000. A least 10 million people world wide could easily afford a 2 million dollar dress, I'm pretty sure. And probably most HC-dresses cost $25,000 - not millions.

 

[ilaughead]

^Nonono, there's close to 500 customers of haute couture.

 

[chloehandbags]

Whoever said only 500 people in the world can afford HC dosn't really know much about economics - no offense. There's almost one thousand dollar billionaries in the world. And what does the most expensive HC creations cost? Probably much, much less than $ 2,000,000. A least 10 million people world wide could easily afford a 2 million dollar dress, I'm pretty sure. And probably most HC-dresses cost $25,000 - not millions.

What The.Rock.Inc. said was;


'Only approximately 500 people in this world can afford and wear couture clothes, as reported in a newspaper.'


I took that to mean that, out of all the people who could afford to buy HC, only around 500 choose to.

 

[nyc_art_style]

this is very interesting. Thank you for creating the thread gruhche.

wasn't there a myth that the houses use to burn the clothes? or was that only for ready to wear.

 

[gruhche]

this is very interesting. Thank you for creating the thread gruhche.

wasn't there a myth that the houses use to burn the clothes? or was that only for ready to wear.

I think it was about ready to wear. I don´t know if you´ve had the chance to read "Deluxe" by Dana Thomas (I highly recommend it), but she talks about that in there. They used to burn the clothes rather than put them on sale, because you want only a certain level of customers being seen in the clothes, in an effort to preserve the illusion of exclusivity.

Funny thing, not as drastic of course, but I think today you can see something asimilar in Europe conserning sales. I live in Vienna and the most we see here is 50% off increadibly exaggerted prices. Whereas most of you know what happens in the States twice a year with that 70%-90% off retail, and on top of that the prices are in dollars. So i think they are a lot more "democratic" in the States when it comes to high fashion. Think about the stores too, here people barely venture into boutiques, the sales ladies are downright intimidating and very snobbish.. And I think that´s very much a part of it, keeping the classes apart should I say..

 

[Miss Galliano]

from ours days hauture couture is fading away.. the money and the clothes arent worthed to buy and wear just selling them to musea's

 

[nyc_art_style]

thank you for the info gruhche!

 

[liashoes]

Here is one of the better known collectors:
Mouna Ayoub

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Mouna Ayoub (Arabic:منى أيوب) (born on February 27th 1957(reference needed) is a well-known French socialite and Businesswoman of Christian Lebanese origin. Very mediatized [1], she is often the guest of the Cannes film festival, and make headlines in the French people magazines. When she was 20 years old she converted to Islam to marry Nasser Al-Rashid, a 40 year old businessman and advisor of King Fahd. After eighteen years of marriage she left Saudi Arabia and made a fortune in real estate.
In 1997 she bought the boat of Bernard Tapie [2], Phocéa, for 5.56 million euros to which were added 18.25 million euros of work. To carry this work out Mouna sold a proportion of her jewels including one of the largest yellow diamonds of the world (112.53 carats) for a price of 2.52 million euros (16.5 million francs) and a Bulgari necklace for (15.3 million francs). Mouna Ayoub has owned since the beginning of the 1980s the largest private collection of haute couture, composed of more than 10,000 items, which she continues to add to each season. In 2004, "Arabian Business" Magazine ranked her 45th richest Arab with wealth estimated at $380 million [3].

 

[ysljunkie]

If I heard right in the HC video on youtube they mention how big the market was for HC in the late 40s and 50s and early 60s before rtw took over. Im wondering if that number was bigger than 500, I would think so but than again I could be wrong.
About the archives the HC at Dior should be a gold mine for whomever follows Mr.Galliano steps at Dior.

 

[eternitygoddess]

Mouna Ayoub has owned since the beginning of the 1980s the largest private collection of haute couture, composed of more than 10,000 items

Hot damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Bidwell]

Most houses keep the original samples hung up in the factory(ies) with their patterns for future referencing. Others will have an archive room set aside in the design studio or showroom.
It takes up a vast amount of space as you can imagine with large gowns and are often on conveyor belt systems such as the ones used for shipping.

 

[Ollie]

After going to Dubai and seeing the oppulence there it makes me wonder what many of those wealthy women are wearing under their Burka's, JPG couture perhaps?

 

[liashoes]

If I heard right in the HC video on youtube they mention how big the market was for HC in the late 40s and 50s and early 60s before rtw took over. Im wondering if that number was bigger than 500, I would think so but than again I could be wrong.
About the archives the HC at Dior should be a gold mine for whomever follows Mr.Galliano steps at Dior.

For some reason this reminds me of a 1956 I Love Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel go to a "Jacques Marcel" Couture show in Paris, then want a dress. $500.00 is way too much for one so Ricky has dresses and hats made of burlap made for the girls. Jacques Marcel sees them strutting down the street in them and the next day they see him with some models wearing duplicates of the burlap dresses.---

 

[The.Rock.Inc.]

Whoever said only 500 people in the world can afford HC dosn't really know much about economics - no offense. There's almost one thousand dollar billionaries in the world. And what does the most expensive HC creations cost? Probably much, much less than $ 2,000,000. A least 10 million people world wide could easily afford a 2 million dollar dress, I'm pretty sure. And probably most HC-dresses cost $25,000 - not millions.

I'm not offended. But yes you have misunderstood.
There are LOADS of people out there who can afford $10 million houses too but I'm talking about rich people who choose to be fashionable or appreciate artistic fashion.
Actually, according to wikipedia, couture is rarely sold but it exists to ''enhance the prestige of the house''. Because of its falling revenues, not every single fashion house can afford to focus on the couture line even if they wanted to... Btw, who wouldn't want? It exists as it shows that they are worthy. Like if I were to say who's more powerful in fashion--- Chanel or Gucci? I would say Chanel because they do couture and that makes the brand even more prestigious and exclusive.

 

[Dkammern]

If I heard right in the HC video on youtube they mention how big the market was for HC in the late 40s and 50s and early 60s before rtw took over. Im wondering if that number was bigger than 500, I would think so but than again I could be wrong. /QUOTE]

I very much think so! think of all the rich and powerful women that wear $6000+ suits (that is chanel, jpg, mcqueen, dior...) that are ready to wear. the less is more would sound stupid to these women who and i am sure that spend A LOT more money on trendy seasonable clothes that after some time they wont even use or like, than if they decided to buy and support couture.


(not to mention the inexcusable ladies that would buy $20.000 balenciaga dresses off the rack and not buy a beautiful timeless measure made dress by KL )

One of the reasons that probably justifies the fact that these women are buying high end RTW instead of couture, is the fact that couture needs about three fittings and (besides the houses that travel the world with the couture collections to show them in the states, china, etc.) those have to be in Paris.
These women dont have time to travel for shopping. many of them are working women today.

I see a video on youtube with an interview to valentino, and as much as i may not like what he designs (designed) he is very very right on these new lifestyle thing.
Opulence nowadays is seen as something that is almost bad, whereas some years ago, some women would change 3 times a day, and wear nothing but couture. it was a way of living! the woman who lives in the most beautiful apartment, that collects the most beautiful art pieces, who drinks the best champagne, and eats the best food: gets dressed with the best clothes (that is couture)

 

[2Nova]

I heard that they are for sale at a 30% reduction on "The Secret World of HC" documentary and for anyone whose read "Fashion Babylon" by Imogen Jones, she talks about how some very rich wives of middle eastern oil tycoons who love HC but whose countries don't allow them to dress that way buy the runway HC pieces just to own and for display since they can't wear them anyway. For anyone whose hasen't seen the documentary, I posted it here.

the 30% discount that they mention in "The Secret World of HC" is only if you can fit into that dress the model wore, if not a new one is made from scratch.

and I thought the number was smaller around 200 something... and I dont know of any celebs that can afford HC... I think it's mostly socialites

 

[prettypouf]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ih6SITik-40

The whole video is located here of "The Secret World Of Haute Couture". I definitely say it's informative, please watch.

 

[2Nova]

^ i love that video so much... it just makes me appreciate HC even more... *sigh*

 

[ilaughead]

Does anyone know how much couture of the 50's cost? A lot of it was very minimalist, focusing more on lines than embellishment, which I think would make old couture affordable to a much larger market. I mean, the New Look was perfectly successful without gobs of Swarvoski crystals, wasn't it!?

From all I've gathered (mostly from here) it sounds like couture was the old prêt-à-porter price range wise, maybe in line with the pricing Rochas had, or a little higher? If that is true, then it would totally explain why couture is dying...