Haute Couture Fashion
The high fashion of France, haute couture, has an English connection. In the 18 th century, French art, architecture, fashions and music became popular across Europe. With advances in transport, wealthy women travelled by steamship and railway to Paris to shop, particularly for clothing and accessories, and Parisian creations were considered to be the best available. In 1846, an English couturier, Charles Frederic Worth (1826-1895) went to Paris and set up a fashion house that soon gained international renown. In the late 19th century, wealthy women from as far as New York travelled to Paris to order Worth's creations. Worth set the stage for the great international names of fashion that followed, including Chanel, Yves Saint-Laurent, Pierre Cardin, Christian Dior, Christian Lacroix, Givenchy, Paco Rabanne, Guy Laroche and Ungaro.
Today, the designation haute couture is protected by law, and "only those companies on the list drawn up each year by a commission domiciled at the Ministry for Industry are entitled to avail themselves thereof (dont ne peuvent se prevaloir que les entreprises figurant sur la liste etablie chaque annee par une commission siegeant au ministere de I'Industrie). The principal organisation dealing with haute couture is the Federation francaise de la couture du pret a. porter des couturiers et des createurs de mode, 100 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, 75008 Paris, Tel: 01 42666444, www.modeaparis.com with pages in French and English. As indicated by the name of the organisation, the clothing sector now is divided into three parts: haute couture fashions for women, ready-to-wear [pret-a-porter] and men's fashions [mode masculine].
