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The label:
"Simon" has become renowned for Haute Couture designs:
exclusive ideas for the individual woman, carefully planned,
masterfully executed, and beautifully finished. Some other
designers do this also, but...
-
what does Haute Couture mean?
-
where does
Haute Couture originate from?
-
what are the rules?
Definition -
History -
Legal status
-
Official Haute Couture designers
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Balenciaga -
Chanel
-
Christian Dior -
Christian Lacroix -
Elie Saab
-
Emanuel Ungaro -
Giorgio Armani -
Pierre Cardin -
Simon Rademan -
Valentino
-
Yves Saint-Laurent -
Definition of Haute Couture:
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-
Haute couture:
(French
for "high sewing" or "high dressmaking"; refers to the
creation of exclusive custom-fitted fashions. It originally
referred to French fashion and in France, is a "protected
name" that can be used only by firms that meet certain
well-defined standards. However, the term is also used loosely
to describe all high-fashion custom-fitted clothing, whether
it is produced in Paris or in other fashion capitals such as
London, New York, Tokyo and Milan.
-
Haute
couture:
(French for 'high
sewing') is a common term for high fashion as produced in
Paris and imitated in other fashion capitals such as New York,
London, and Milan. Sometimes it is used only to refer to
French fashion; at other times it refers to any unique stylish
design made to order for wealthy and high-status clients.
-
Haute
couture:
Haute
couture
is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually
made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme
attention to detail and finish, often using time-consuming,
hand-executed techniques.
-
Haute
couture:
High-Fashion garments (of which only a single price is produced) It’s
extravagant, it’s irrational, it’s Unique and it’s totally
unaffordable.
The
term can refer to:
-
The
fashion houses or fashion designers that create exclusive and
often trendsetting fashions.
-
The
fashions created
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Main sources:
The numerous books I have about my favourite
subjects www.apparelsearch.com
History of Haute Couture
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French leadership in European fashion may perhaps be dated from
the 18th century, when the art, architecture, music, and
fashions of the French court at Versailles were imitated across
Europe. Visitors to Paris brought back
clothing that was then copied by local dressmakers. Stylish
women also ordered fashion dolls from Paris -- dolls dressed in
the latest Parisian fashions, to serve as
models.
As
railroads and steamships made European travel easier, it was
increasingly common for wealthy women to travel to Paris to shop
for clothing and accessories. French fitters and seamstresses
were commonly thought to be the best in Europe, and real Parisian garments were considered better than local
imitations. The first couturier to establish international
dominance was Charles Frederick Worth (1826-1895.) Even
New York socialites crossed the
Atlantic Ocean to order clothes from Worth.
Following in Worth's footsteps were: Patou, Poiret, Vionnet,
Fortuny, Lanvin, Chanel, Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, and Dior.
Some of these fashion houses still exist today, under the
leadership of modern designers.
In
the 1960s a group of young designers who had trained under men
like Dior and Balenciaga left these established couture houses
and opened their own establishments. The most successful of
these young men were Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin, Andre
Courreges, and Emmanuel Ungaro.
Lacroix is perhaps the most
successful of the fashion houses to have been started in the
last decade.
For all these fashion houses, custom clothing is no longer the
main source of income; it only adds the aura of fashion to the
ready-to-wear, shoes and perfumes, and
licensing
ventures that make the real money. A house must be careful,
however, not to push the profit-making too far. Cardin, for
example, licensed with abandon in the 1980s and his name lost
most of its fashionable cachet when anyone could buy Cardin
luggage at a discount store.
The 1960s also featured a revolt
against established fashion standards by mods, rockers, and
hippies, as well as an increasing internationalization of the
fashion scene. Jet
travel had spawned a jet
set that partied -- and shopped -- just as happily in New York
as in Paris. Rich women no longer felt that a Paris dress was
necessarily better than one sewn elsewhere. While Paris is still
pre-eminent in the fashion world, it is no longer the sole
arbiter of fashion.
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Legal status
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In France, the term
haute couture is protected by law and is defined by the
Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Paris based in
Paris, France. Their rules state that only "those companies
mentioned on the list drawn up each year by a commission
domiciled at the Ministry for Industry are entitled to avail
themselves" of the label haute couture. The criteria for
haute couture were established in 1945 and updated in
1992.
To earn the right to
call itself a couture house and to use the term haute couture
in its advertising and any other way, members of the Chambre
Syndicale must follow these rules:
-
Design
made-to-order for private clients, with one or more fittings.
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Have a workshop (atelier)
in Paris that employs at least fifteen people full-time.
-
Each season,
present a collection to the Paris press, comprising at least
thirty-five runs with outfits for both daytime wear and
evening wear.
However, the term
haute couture has been misused by successive ready-to-wear
brands and high street labels since the late 1980s so that its
true meaning has become blurred with that of prêt-à-porter
(the French term for ready-to-wear fashion) in the public
perception. Every haute couture house also markets
prêt-à-porter collections, which typically deliver a higher
return on
investment than their custom clothing. In
fact, much of the haute couture displayed at fashion
shows today is rarely sold; it is created to enhance the
prestige of the house. Falling revenues have forced a few
couture houses to abandon their less profitable couture
division and concentrate solely on the less prestigious prêt-à-porter.
These houses, such as Italian designer Antonio Capucci, all of
whom have their workshops in Italy, are no longer considered
haute couture.
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Official haute couture
houses -
Who are they?
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As of early 2007,
there are ten official haute couture member houses:
-
Adeline André
-
Chanel
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Christian Dior
-
Christian Lacroix
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Dominique Sirop
-
Emanuel Ungaro
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Franck Sorbier
-
Givenchy
-
Jean Paul Gaultier
-
Jean-Louis Scherrer
As of early 2007,
there are three invited houses:
-
Elie Saab
-
Giorgio Armani
-
Valentino
There are many
fashion houses who were once official haute couture members:
-
Atelier Versace
-
Balenciaga
-
Elsa Schiaparelli
-
Guy Laroche
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Jean Patou
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Lanvin
-
Loris Azzaro
-
Marcel Rochas
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Nina Ricci
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Paco Rabanne
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Pierre Cardin
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Torrente
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Yves Saint Laurent
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Balenciaga
Balenciaga is a
fashion house founded by Cristóbal Balenciaga, a Spanish
designer. He introduced couture shapes to the women's world and
was referred to as "the master of us all" by Christian Dior.
His
bubble skirts and odd, feminine, yet ultra-modern shapes were
trademarks of the house.
Cristóbal Balenciaga
opened his first boutique in San Sebastián, Spain, in 1914,
which expanded to include branches in Madrid and Barcelona. The
Spanish royal family and the aristocracy wore his designs, but
when the Spanish Civil War forced him to close his stores,
Balenciaga moved to Paris.
Balenciaga opened his
Paris couture house on Avenue George V in August 1937, and his
first runway show featured designs heavily influenced by the
Spanish Renaissance. Balenciaga's success in Paris was nearly
immediate. Within two years, the French press lauded him as a
revolutionary, and his designs were highly sought-after. Carmel
Snow, the editor of Harper's Bazaar was an early champion
of his designs.
Customers risked
their safety to travel to Europe during World War II to see
Balenciaga's clothing During this period, he was noted for his
"square coat," with sleeves cut in a single piece with the yoke,
and for his designs with black (or black and brown) lace over
bright pink fabric.
However, it was not
until the post-war years that the full scale of the
inventiveness of this highly original designer became evident.
His lines became more linear and sleek, diverging from the
hourglass shape popularized by Christian Dior's New Look. The
fluidity of his silhouettes enabled him to manipulate the
relationship between his clothing and women's bodies. In 1951,
he totally transformed the silhouette, broadening the shoulders
and removing the waist. In 1955, he designed the tunic dress,
which later developed into the chemise dress of 1958. Other
contributions in the postwar era included the spherical balloon
jacket (1953), the high-waisted baby doll dress (1957), the
cocoon coat (1957), the balloon skirt (1957), and the sack dress
(1957). In 1959, his work culminated in the Empire line, with
high-waisted dresses and coats cut like kimonos. His
manipulation of the waist, in particular, contributed to "what
is considered to be his most important contribution to the world
of fashion: a new silhouette for women."
In the 1960s,
Balenciaga was an innovator in his use of fabrics: he tended
toward heavy fabrics, intricate embroidery, and bold materials.
His trademarks included "collars that stood away from the
collarbone to give a swanlike appearance" and shortened
"bracelet" sleeves. His often spare, sculptural
creations—including funnel-shape gowns of stiff duchess satin
worn to acclaim by clients such as Pauline de Rothschild, Bunny
Mellon, Marella Agnelli, Gloria Guinness and Mona von
Bismarck—were considered masterworks of haute couture in the
1950s and 1960s. Jackie Kennedy famously upset John F. Kennedy
for buying Balenciaga's expensive creations while he was
President because he feared that the American public might think
the purchases too lavish. Her haute couture bills were
eventually discreetly paid by her father-in-law, Joseph Kennedy.
Balenciaga is now
owned by the Gucci Group (PPR), and its womenswear and menswear
is headed by Nicolas Ghesquière.
Today, the
brand is also famous for its line of motorcycle-inspired
handbags, especially the famous "Lariat". Balenciaga currently
owns only two boutiques in the United States their U.S.
headquarters in New York on W 22nd St. as well as a store in
Honolulu. They currently are in the process of leasing a spot in
the Mandarin Oriental in Boston which is to open in Summer of
2008. Balenciaga opened a boutique at the end of 2006 in
Bangkok.
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Chanel
Chanel revolutionized
haute couture fashion by completely replacing the traditional
corset with the comfort and casual elegance of simple suits and
dresses. She introduced to the world her signature cardigan
jacket in 1925 and signature “little black dress” in 1926,
introducing a more sultry and seductive definition to “sexy.”
She had numerous other major successes that changed the fashion
industry including the ever popular "'Chanel suit'", an elegant
creation composed of a knee-length skirt and trim, boxy jacket,
traditionally made of woven wool with black sewing trim and gold
buttons, worn with large costume-pearl necklaces. Elite women of
high societies around the world began to flock to the now
legendary Rue Cambon boutique to commission couture outfits from
her. The House of Chanel became an icon of elegance and from
then on, the name “Chanel” became synonymous to elegance,
wealth, and elitism, as well as the ultimate sign of French high
class, la coquetterie.
The House of Chanel,
under the leadership of Karl Lagerfeld, has defined the style
and fashion of Chanel as being the five essentials: audacious,
perfectionist, unique, passionate, and visionary.
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Christian Dior
Christian Dior (January
21,
1905
–
October 23,
1957),
was an influential
French
fashion
designer. He was born
in
Granville, Manche,
Normandy,
France.
Under his parents' wishes he
attended his parents
Ecole des Sciences
Politiques from 1920
to 1925. The family had hopes he would become a diplomat, but
Dior only wished to be involved in the arts. After leaving
school he received money from his father so that in 1928 he
could open a small art gallery in Darfur. Under his father's
compromise for the money, the family name did not appear on the
gallery. The walls were covered with the likes of
Pablo Picasso
and Max
Jacob. After a family
disaster he was forced to shut down the gallery. In 1929 Dior
had a son that he named John Christian Dior. In the 1930s Dior
made a living by doing sketches for Haute Couture Houses. In
1938 he worked with
Robert Piguet.
In 1945 he designed for
Marcel Boussac.
Boussac, a man who had made his fortune from fabric, was
interested in Dior's new idea that involved using lots of layers
of extravagant fabrics. Dior's first collection, Corolle Line,
premiered in 1947. He established his main fashion house in
1949; Christian Dior New York, Inc.
Jacqueline Bouvier
Kennedy, May 11, 1962. Mrs. Kennedy wears
candy pink silk-dupioni shantung gown designed by Guy Douvier
for Christian Dior.
The actual phrase the "New
Look" was coined by
Carmel Snow,
the powerful editor-in-chief of
Harper's Bazaar.
Dior's designs were more voluptuous than the boxy,
fabric-conserving shapes of the recent World War II styles,
influenced by the rations on fabric. He was a master at creating
shapes and silhouettes; Dior is quoted as saying "I have
designed flower women." His look employed fabrics lined
predominantly with percale, boned, bustier-style bodices, hip
padding, wasp-waisted corsets and petticoats that made his
dresses flare out from the waist, giving his models a very
curvaceous form. The hem of the skirt was very flattering on the
calves and ankles, creating a beautiful silhouette. Initially,
women protested because his designs covered up their legs, which
they had been unused to because of the previous limitations on
fabric. There was also some backlash to Dior's genius form due
to the amount of fabrics used in a single dress or suit, but
opposition ceased as the wartime shortages ended. His designs
represented consistent, classic elegance, and stressed
femininity. The
New Look
revolutionized women's dress and reestablished Paris as the
center of the fashion world after
World War II.
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Christian Lacroix
In early childhood, Lacroix attended bullfighting events and enjoyed Gypsy and
Provencal traditions as well. He spent time at art museums and
enjoyed reading books from the attic. In his youth, he also took
a liking to Oscar Wilde and the Beatles. After studying Art
History at the University of Montpellier, he went on to the
Sorbonne and the Ecole du Louvre in 1973. His aspiration during
this time was to become a museum curator. It was during this
time he met his future wife Françoise.
In 1987 he opened his
own couture house. He began putting out ready-to-wear in 1988
drawing inspiration from diverse cultures. Critics commented
that he did not seem to understand the type of clothing the
working woman needed. In 1989, Lacroix launched jewelry,
handbags, shoes, glasses, scarves and ties (along with
ready-to-wear). In this same year, he opened boutiques within
Paris, Arles, Aix-en-Provence, Toulouse, London, Geneva and
Japan.
He is known for his
theatrical style which came from his work while in the theatre.
This usually shows up with his use of colour in the collections
he designs. Along with this, he is also known for his 'le pouf'
gown (featuring the ball skirt), as well as closing all his
haute couture fashion shows with a model dressed up as a bride.
Today, Lacroix has 60
points of sale within France (department stores included).
Around the world, Lacroix has 1,000 total points of sale.
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Elie Saab
Elie Saab
(Arabic: إيلي صعب) (born July 4, 1964), sometimes known simply
as 'ES', is a Lebanese fashion designer.
In 1982, Saab
launched his own Beirut-based fashion label when he was just 18
years old. His main workshop is in Lebanon, a country to which
he remains deeply attached. He also has workshops in Milan and
Paris.
Saab is self-trained.
He started sewing as a child and knew that one day he would make
a living out of it. In 1981 he moved to Paris to study fashion,
but ended up returning and opening his workshop in 1982. In 1997
Saab was the first non-Italian designer to become a member of
the Italian Camera Nazionale della Moda, and in 1997, showed his
first collection outside Lebanon in Rome. In 1998, he started
ready-to-wear in Milan, and in the same year, he held a fashion
show in Monaco which was attended by Princess Stephanie. He
gained notoriety after he became the first Lebanese designer to
dress an Oscar winner, Halle Berry, in 2002.
In May 2003,
the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture invited him to become
a member, and he showed his first haute couture collection in
Paris in July 2003. His first ready-to-wear collection in Paris
was the Spring-Summer 2006 collection, and Paris is now his
permanent ready-to-wear runway.
Some people seen in ES
fashion:
Beyoncé Knowles , Catherine Zeta-Jones , Charlize Theron , Diane
Kruger , Debra Messing , Eva Longoria , Fairuz , Halle Berry ,
Jessica Simpson , Kelly Rowland , Kelly Preston , Marcia Cross ,
Michelle Williams , Nawal Al Zoghbi , Nicolette Sheridan ,
Patricia Heaton , Queen Rania of Jordan , Salma Hayek , Teri
Hatcher
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Emanuel Ungaro
Born to Italian
parents who had fled to France from Brindisi because of the
fascist Italian government. As a young boy, Emanuel Ungaro took
to sewing like his father, Cosimo
At the age of 22, he
moved to Paris and three years later, he began designing for the
House of Cristobal Balenciaga for three years before quitting to
work for Courrèges. Four years later, in 1965, Emanuel Ungaro
opened his own fashion house in Paris.
In 1988, at
the age of 55, he married Laura Bernabei.
In 1968, he created
his first pret-a-porter collection, Parallèle and opened
a boutique at 2, avenue Montaigne in Paris. During the next 30
years, the Emanuel Ungaro House expanded to include boutiques
and licencing agreements worldwide.
In 1996, he
formed a partnership with Salvatore Ferragamo. In 1997, Emanuel
Ungaro, Salvatore Ferragamo and Bulgari created a new company:
Emanuel Ungaro Parfums. The new perfumes to follow was Fleur
de Diva (1997), Desnuda (2001) and Apparition
(2004).
In 2005 the brand
Emanuel Ungaro was sold to Pakistan-born internet tycoon, Asim
Abdullah head of Global Asset Capital Investment Bank. At the
time, the total wholesale revenue of products sold under the
Ungaro label through licensing deals was approximately € 70
million.
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Giorgio Armani
Giorgio
Armani was born in Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna. He originally
trained in Medicine, then gave it up to pursue photography,
before being called up for national service in 1957. He then
worked in a department store, La Rinascente, as a window
dresser. From 1961 to 1970, Armani worked as a designer in
well-known fashion house Nino Cerruti, after which he left to
pursue freelance work. In 1974, with his partner Sergio Galeotti,
he established Giorgio Armani S.p.A. with a menswear label,
introducing a womenswear line in 1975. His sister Rosanna Armani
joined him in the company; Galeotti died in 1985. Giorgio Armani
is also known as being a fan of Inter Milan. In fact, according
to reports, in 2006 there was a possibility that he would be new
Inter's president. He is, however, president of the Milan
basketball team. He is known today for his clean, tailored
lines. He achieved his international breakthrough by tailoring
for numerous Hollywood names and especially for Richard Gere in
the title role of American Gigolo in 1980. Armani was
also noted for building a mansion on the Caribbean island of
Antigua, and being among the first designers to ban models with
a body mass index (BMI) under 18 (the minimum healthy BMI),
after model Ana Carolina Reston starved herself to death due to
anorexia nervosa. In January 2007 Armani has become the first
designer to broadcast an haute couture fashion show live on the
Internet. The haute couture Armani Prive spring/summer 2007
fashion show was broadcast via Microsoft Corporation’s MSN and
Cingular cellular phones.
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Simon
Rademan
Simon Rademan was born a couple of years after
George Washington, but on the same day : 22 February. He learned sign language
before he could speak either Afrikaans or English, as both his
parents were deaf. With very
little wealth as children, he knew instantly that hard work and love
should be the foundation of his existence. After matriculating, he left the
beautiful town, Ceres, to complete his 2 year military obligation
at Voortrekkerhoogte in Pretoria and Youngsfield.in Cape
Town.
Simon understood that
working in a bank for five years would afford him the opportunity to save money and to
experiment with different part-time courses. He studied
drama and starred in 12 plays (e.g.. Joseph
and his amazing Technicolor dream coat). Art, Graphic
art, Make-up, Hairstyling, Modeling and Paint techniques are some of
the courses that prepared him for what he always knew would set his soul free. His designs for the
female form would one day stop traffic!
His incredible quest for destiny started
at the International Academy of Fashion in Gauteng, where he majored
in Pattern Design, Textiles and Creative Styling. Right from
the start his designs earned the respect and admiration of those he
came into contact with. He registers Simon Rademan Fashion
Design Studio as a cc, and opens the door of a design house that
continues to inspire and set new trends. His clients
range from businesswomen to celebrities, from matric-ladies to those
who fall in love and get married.
After more than a decade in the fashion
industry, Simon Rademan undoubtedly became one of the most
respected fashion guru's in the south of Africa, and his reputation
as a creative stylist reaches far beyond expectations. . His opinion about beauty, style and
etiquette is highly sought after by individuals,
trendsetters, and fashionistas. His
reputation as a talent scout and being
courageous in his opinion allowed him to be appointed as a national
judge for ambassadorial competitions such as Miss SA, Miss SA
Campus, Fashion TV, Miss Teen (JIP), Mrs SA, and many, many more
competitions.
He specializes in exclusive,
exquisite wedding dresses for local and international clients.
Brides feel and look beautiful and chic in his simple yet
(sometimes) richly embellished robes. They consider a Simon
Rademan as a “must have” rather that “a would like to have”, thus
making him a leading specialist in his field.
Through hard work, determination and an
inborn enthusiasm to make women look their best, he
receives various nominations and awards and appears on television programs, in newspapers and leading magazines
which begin to honor his natural insight into fashion.
He achieves further recognition from the public by appearing in a
crossword puzzle as an outstanding couturier! Simon Rademan celebrates 18 years in
an industry that he absolutely adores. His
medley of styles is a tribute to all who supports him, and an
inspiration to those joint in the fashion arena. He
believes that “the ultimate in living is to respect and love
yourself and to share that feeling with every single person that
touches your life”.
His life’s motto is strongly personified
by the words of JRR Tolkien: "All that is gold, does not
glitter...all those who wonder, aren't lost. The old who are
strong, do not wither, and deep roots are not reached by the frost."
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Valentino
At 17 Valentino moved
to Paris to pursue this interest with the help of by his mother
Teresa de Biaggi and his father Mauro Garavani. There he studied
at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and at the Chambre Syndicale de la
Couture Parisienne.
His first Paris
choice was Jacques Fath, then Balenciaga. He then found
apprentice jobs with Jean Desses where he used to help style
icon countess Jacqueline de Ribes sketch her dress ideas. He
then joined Guy Laroche for 2 years. At Desses, Valentino
sketched furiously, between helping with window dressing and
greeting clients for the daily 2:30 p.m. private showings. Most
of his early sketches were lost. At a Rome exhibition in 1991 a
smattering went on display and current clients at that time such
as Marie Hélène de Rothschild and Elizabeth Taylor marveled that
the DNA of Valentino's style was already apparent in the layers
of white pleats and animal prints.
After five years,
Valentino left Jean Desses under a cloud over an incident about
prolonging a vacation in St. Tropez that still makes him wriggle
uncomfortably today. Rescued by his friend Guy Laroche, he
joined his "tiny, tiny" fashion house. Anyway just when he had
been offered the French equivalent of a green card and after
discussions with his parents, he decided to return to Italy and
set up in Rome in 1959.
Valentino's
international debut took place in 1962 in Florence, the Italian
fashion capital of the time. His first show at the Pitti Palace
was welcomed as a true revelation and the young couturier was
submerged by orders from foreign buyers and enthusiastic
comments on the press.
Today Valentino's
clothes can be seen on the most sophisticated and elegant women
in the world, from Nicole Kidman to Gwyneth Paltrow to Halle
Berry, without forgetting many royal princesses such as Máxima
of the Netherlands, Mette-Marit of Norway and Marie-Chantal of
Greece.
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Yves Saint-Laurent
Yves Henri Donat
Mathieu-Saint-Laurent (born August 1, 1936 in Oran, Algeria),
was
a French fashion designer.
He sadly
passed away on 1 June 2008. The son of an
insurance-company manager Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint Laurent
was born on the 1st of August 1936 in Oran, Algeria. Saint
Laurent left home at the age of 17 to work for the French
designer Christian Dior. Following Dior's death in 1957, Yves at
the age of 21 was put in charge of the effort of saving the Dior
house from financial ruin.
Shortly after this
success he was conscripted to serve in the French army during
the Algerian war of independence. After 20 days the stress of
being hazed by fellow soldiers led the fragile Saint Laurent to
be institutionalized in a French mental hospital, where he
underwent psychiatric treatment, including electroshock therapy,
for a nervous breakdown.
In 1962, in the wake
of his nervous breakdown, Saint Laurent was released from Dior
and started his own label, YSL, financed by his lover,
Pierre Bergé. (The couple split romantically in 1976 but
remained business partners.) During the 1960s and 1970s the firm
popularized fashion trends such as the beatnik look, tweed
suits, tight pants and tall, thigh-high boots, including the
creation of arguably the most famous classic tuxedo suit for
women in 1966, Le Smoking suit. He is the first, in 1966, to
popularize ready-to-wear in an attempt to democratize fashion,
with Rive Gauche and the boutique of the same name. He is also
the first designer to use black models in his runway shows.
Among his muses were
Loulou de La Falaise, the daughter of a French marquis and an
Anglo-Irish fashion model, Betty Catroux, the half-Brazilian
daughter of an American diplomat and wife of a French decorator,
Talitha Pol-Getty, who died of drug overdose in 1971, and
Catherine Deneuve, the iconic French actress. Ambassador to the
couturier during the late 1970s and early 80s was London
socialite millionairess Diane Boulting-Casserley Vandelli,
making the brand ever more popular amongst the European jet-set
and upper classes. He was also inspired by his love of the
writer Proust and Mademoiselle Chanel.
In 1983, he became
the first living fashion designer to be honored by the
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In 1993, the
Saint-Laurent fashion house was sold to the pharmaceuticals
company Sanofi for approximately $600,000,000. In 1999, Gucci
bought the YSL brand and Tom Ford designed the ready-to-wear
collection while Saint-Laurent designed the haute couture
collection. Since his retirement in 1998 Saint-Laurent has
become increasingly reclusive and has spent a much of his time
at his house in Marrakech, Morocco.
In 2001 he was
awarded the rank of Commandeur of the Légion d'Honneur by French
president Jaques Chirac.
The following year,
dogged by years of poor health, drug abuse, depression,
alcoholism, criticisms of YSL designs, and problems with lead
designer Tom Ford, Saint-Laurent and Gucci closed the
illustrious couture house of YSL. While the house no longer
exists, the brand still survives through its parent company
Gucci. He also created a museum with his friend Pierre Bergé in
Paris to trace the history of the house of YSL, complete with
15,000 objects and 5,000 pieces of clothing.
The prêt-à-porter
line is still being produced under the direction of Stefano
Pilati after Tom Ford retired in 2004, while the boxer briefs
sold all over the world still carry the brand name.
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www.apparelsearch.com
Pierre Cardin
Pierre Cardin
is a fashion designer. He was born on July 7, 1922, near Venice,
Italy, to French parents. He moved to Paris in 1945. There he
studied architecture and worked with Paquin after the war. Work
with Schiaparelli followed until he became head of Christian
Dior's tailleure atelier in 1947, but was denied work at
Balenciaga. He founded his own house in 1950 and began with
haute couture in 1953. Cardin was known for his avant-garde
style and his space age designs. He prefers geometric shapes and
motifs, often ignoring the female form. He advanced into unisex
fashions, sometimes experimental, and not always practical. He
introduced the "bubble dress" in 1954.
Cardin was the first
couturier to turn to Japan as a high fashion market when he
travelled there in 1959.
In 1959, he
was expelled from the Chambre Syndicale for launching a
ready-to-wear collection for the Printemps department store as
the first couturier in Paris, but was soon reinstated. However,
he resigned from the Chambre Syndicale in 1966 and now shows his
collections in his own venue, the Espace Cardin (opened 1971) in
Paris, formerly the Théâtre des Ambassadeurs, near the American
Embassy. The Espace Cardin is also used to promote new artistic
talents, like theater ensembles, musicians, etc.
Cardin was a
member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture et du Prêt-à-Porter
and of the Maison du Haute Couture from 1953 to 1993. Like many
other designers today, Cardin decided in 1994 to show his
collection only to a small circle of selected clients and
journalists.
He purchased Maxim's
restaurants in 1981 and soon opened branches in New York,
London, and Beijing (1983). A chain of Maxim's Hotels are now
included in the assets. Cardin has also licenced a wide range of
food products under that name.
He is also mentioned
in a Jonathan Richman song called "Everyday
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Main sources:
The numerous books I have about my favourite
subjects www.apparelsearch.com
Definition of Haute Couture - Hi-Fashion
garments (of which only a single price is produced) It’s
extravagant, it’s irrational, it’s Unique and it’s totally
unaffordable.
www.fashionindia.net/glossary.htm
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