The Craftmanship of Haute Couture ... The details and how they do it.

[ebowleg]

I was thinking about the whole process of the couture...I know that a designer comes up with a sketch, then puts it onto a toile, then...? When it comes time for the show, are the models wearing the same garments that take thousands of hours to make? Then, after the show, what happens to all of the clothes in the show? This being TFS, I figured that I would receive a lot of insightful answers...Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[Acid]

i guess the clothes are designed and some basic toile's are made to play around with.......
then patterns are made or dummies are draped with calico to make the first toile's

then the whole fabric and trimming decisions are made before the pieces are made. then after the show some of the garments are stored in an archive, and some are sent globally to magazines for photo shoots

then private clientel decide which they want either from seing the show or from look books, they are measured up and credit card swiped hard

 

[metal-on-metal]

Originally posted by Acid@Apr 26th, 2004 - 3:32 pm
credit card swiped hard

My god I couldn't imagine receiving a credit card statement after couture season:

January 21, 2004 CHANEL 31 Rue Cambon $85,000
January 22, 2004 Christian Dior 40 Avenue Montaigne $145,000
January 22, 2004 Valentino 8 Place Vendôme $225,000

Can you imagine! And what if they accidentally charge twice!

 

[Acid]

imagine what sorta credit limit these people must have

or even better..........imagine paying in cash

 

[gian]

January 21, 2004 CHANEL 31 Rue Cambon $85,000
January 22, 2004 Christian Dior 40 Avenue Montaigne $145,000
January 22, 2004 Valentino 8 Place Vendôme $225,000

GOD! does couture actually cost this much?!! hahaha! or is it just an exaggeration?!

no wonder this is such a lucrative industry! imagine charging maybe at least 500% of the total cost of producing a single piece!!

f*ck! i would absolutely want to be a designer someday!! you get to over-charge..

(well of course that is if you're that big time!!)

 

[seditionary]

umm
people always think of how much a product costs to produce

now think of store staff, design staff, all the processes before the original is made, all the mistakes, all the off cuts of fabric, etc etc...
couture aint cheap as well because it is all meant to be hand made, from the fabrics beading, lace etc

 

[brian]

Originally posted by gian@Apr 26th, 2004 - 9:26 pm

January 21, 2004 CHANEL 31 Rue Cambon $85,000
January 22, 2004 Christian Dior 40 Avenue Montaigne $145,000
January 22, 2004 Valentino 8 Place Vendôme $225,000

GOD! does couture actually cost this much?!! hahaha! or is it just an exaggeration?!

no wonder this is such a lucrative industry! imagine charging maybe at least 500% of the total cost of producing a single piece!!

f*ck! i would absolutely want to be a designer someday!! you get to over-charge..

(well of course that is if you're that big time!!)

Yes, couture costs that much. Sometimes more.

There was a dress from Dior's Fall 2003 couture show that was a million dollars (or at least $600,000-700,000), if i remember correctly:

And the ones from the Egyptian couture show (Spring 04) were in the hundred-thousands as well.

 

[brian]

Originally posted by Acid@Apr 26th, 2004 - 2:34 pm
imagine what sorta credit limit these people must have

or even better..........imagine paying in cash

I'd pay them in quarters B)

 

[Nader]

The best is how so many arabian princesses back home buy a peice, wear it once and toss it

 

[brian]

Originally posted by Nader@Apr 26th, 2004 - 10:16 pm
The best is how so many arabian princesses back home buy a peice, wear it once and toss it

I don't know...but I sure could never do that!!

 

[chanel_girl]

Well most haute couture pieces are hand made and are very decadent in the use of matirials like at Dior SS 2004 they didn't use sequins on the jackets,dresses etc they used silver and diamonds and at Chanel they had a jacket with about 3 million euros worth of diamonds on it but some ready to wear collections are just inches away from being couture like the cinq a sept from chanel the most expensive piece from that is $48 000 and that's like a hand ruffled/sequined/sewn dress and jacket

 

[brian]

Originally posted by chanel_girl@Apr 26th, 2004 - 10:39 pm
but some ready to wear collections are just inches away from being couture like the cinq a sept from chanel the most expensive piece from that is $48 000 and that's like a hand ruffled/sequined/sewn dress and jacket

Yes! I love when rtw collections get that intricate and detailed, albeit they are expensive... but defintiely worth it

The only real difference between haute couture and such things like that is the fact that haute couture is tailored to fit your body perfectly, and the cinq a sept rtw for example comes "pre-made" in standard sizes

 

[Lorna]

no wonder this is such a lucrative industry! imagine charging maybe at least 500% of the total cost of producing a single piece!!

f*ck! i would absolutely want to be a designer someday!! you get to over-charge..

I *think* that haute-couture is a losing busniess actually. What keeps designers raking in the $$ is the lower-end stuff: the perfume, the makeup -- stuff that the masses can access. Often (I believe) they barely break even on the HC stuff since there's so much handiwork -- handmade lace, embroidery, beading etc. I would love to have an HC dress.... sigh

Where are those arabian princesses and do they have consignment shops there!?

 

[brian]

Originally posted by Lorna@Apr 26th, 2004 - 11:04 pm
Where are those arabian princesses and do they have consignment shops there!?

 

[gian]

There was a dress from Dior's Fall 2003 couture show that was a million dollars (or at least $600,000-700,000), if i remember correctly:

why would somebody spend a million dollars for an ensemble like this?!

with being practical in a sense, i'd rather buy several pieces from every show for the season, getting all the hot items than waste some huge cash in purchasing something that i would seriously never wear anyway,,, (well maybe in my room when i'm day dreaming... or maybe in a costume party,,, but still,,)

i dunno, but i would surely not waste a million bucks for this...

 

[gian]

Where are those arabian princesses and do they have consignment shops there!?

yeah, and can we be friends with them?!!

 

[gian]

and maybe we could also get "OILED" by them then...

 

[brian]

Originally posted by gian@Apr 26th, 2004 - 11:15 pm

There was a dress from Dior's Fall 2003 couture show that was a million dollars (or at least $600,000-700,000), if i remember correctly:

why would somebody spend a million dollars for an ensemble like this?!

with being practical in a sense, i'd rather buy several pieces from every show for the season, getting all the hot items than waste some huge cash in purchasing something that i would seriously never wear anyway,,, (well maybe in my room when i'm day dreaming... or maybe in a costume party,,, but still,,)

i dunno, but i would surely not waste a million bucks for this...

No one ordered that dress.

Only one exists in the world, and it's the one on the runway model in the photo. But the value would've been around that price range. I've seen it in a magazine editorial, and in person, and it is GIGANTIC (it probably weighs 50 pounds because it's about 300 yards or more of fabric) and the craftsmanship is breathtaking imo

That horrible picture does no justice. The ruffles are all held together by drawstrings, so the ruffles can be gathered as full or as loose as you want, and each drawstring pull is gold and has "Dior" engraved onto it...

It really is a breathtaking piece, and I think it's going to be put in the Dior museum in france soon, if it isn't already there..

 

[Amélie]

ooo, i luv that dress sooo much brian! i saw when they were preparing it in some french magazine last year...the back of the dress is amazing!!!

 

[nqth]

Originally posted by gian@Apr 27th, 2004 - 12:15 am
why would somebody spend a million dollars for an ensemble like this?!

For the same reason as men are buying expensive cars :-)

And imagine how much some of those dresses will cost in some years.