On Curation

When speaking of luxury, how do we separate what is legitmately opulent from the ordinary? The issue of curation arises. With any museum, the curator is in esence a content specialist. The responsibilities are to seek and catalogue relevant objects in line with the raison d’etre of the institution. In smaller, more amateur operations, this could be a free-for-all documentation of goods. There is no structured scrutiny of what is kept and what is tossed. An amalgam of unrelated anythings, the assemblage still paints a picture of the intended issues, for better or for worse. The difference between this and a professional curator is that the latter will subscribe to a master narrative. The boundaries are clearly marked, and there is a slightly unforgiving ostracization for that which does not comply.

So when does fashion become truly luxurious? When does it completely extend past the limits of merely covering up oneself and become an utterly sumptuous indulgence that it often in need of an argument for its own existence? When can be it curated to the realm of haute couture. Haute couture has been dated back to the days of Louis XIV (17th century), who promoted fashions that were only deemed worthy if it cost the equivalent of one’s annual salary. Then in the 18th century, it continued with couturier Rose Bertin as Minister For Fashion, as well as with Leroy after Napoleon became Emperor in 1804. However, the one main difference is that in those days, all the power of creativity still laid with the royal personages that commissioned the dress. Charles Worth, regarded as the father of modern Haute Couture, is the first person to put his name on the label of the clothes he made. And in 1858, he began to make collections of clothes in Paris from his own ideas, and then asked his clients for their opinion. And then showing his finished garments on live models completed the entire power shift. In detail, he would have a portfolio of designs through these showings, where the client could still specify colour and fabric, and then the duplicate garment would be tailor-made in Worth’s workshop. This was an innovative meld of customized tailoring with a slightly more standardized method emerging at this time of the Industrial Revolution. It was so well received that from then on, designers began to take charge of the direction couture. And in 1868, Worth founded the first Chambre Syndicale. Throughout its progression it has evolved into what is known today as The Fédération française de la couture, du prêt-à-porter des couturiers et des créateurs de mode (officially established in 1973). Its location has been 100 rue du faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris 8e.since 1935.

With the Fédération, there are three parts:
- the Chambre syndicale de la haute couture (created in 1868),
- the Chambre syndicale du prêt-à-porter des couturiers et des créateurs de mode (created in 1973)
- The Chambre syndicale de la mode masculine (created in 1973)


And there are strict rules in order to be legally called a House of Couture. Although colloquial English has abused the term often enough for it to be erroneously related to an item without a second glance, it is actually a very difficult right to earn. In order for an item to be legally haute couture, the design house must:
- show a collection to the Parisian press, private buyers, and manufacturers twice a year (January for Spring/Summer, July for Fall/Winter; intentionally fast-forwarded)
- produce 35 new and original designs of both day and evening wear for each of these collections
- employ a minimum of at least 15 full-time technical staff in at least one atelier or workshop located in Paris
- and most importantly, design custom made-to-order outfits that involve one or more fittings
With all these requirements met, a fashion house can officially call itself a House of Couture. Interestingly, its members are privileged to free advertising on state run French television channels.

In and around the time of Worth, there were certain designers who followed suit, some of which have even become household names until today: Callot Soeurs, Patou, Poiret, Vionnet, Fortuny, Lanvin, Chanel, Mainbocher, Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, and Dior to name a few. And then later, Yves Saint Laurent established his own house after working under Dior, Karl Lagerfeld went on to create his own brand after working under Balmain and Jean Patou, André Courrèges left Balenciaga, as did Emanuel Ungaro to create their own lines. All this apprenticeship turned master relations are being explored in the “Designer Family Tree”. There are also completely new houses started in the 20th century that have garnered a lot of success. Some of these include Jean-Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, and Christian Lacroix. However, it is very timely to note that last Tuesday (07 July 2009) may have been Lacroix’s last haute couture collection for the house. It has much to do with the economic recession, but it is also attributed to how he gave himself over to the boundlessness of extravagance and luxury. People often describe his designs as a pursuit beyond real-world restraints, of a beauty without a hint of sacrifice. And if his house was to really fall, it wouldn’t be against the ongoing general trend. In 1946, there were 106 couture houses. In 1952, that declined down to 60, 2000 had 18, 2002 had 12, 2004 had a mere 9, and this year, 2009, there are 11.

The current Official members are:

Adeline André
Anne Valérie Hash
Chanel
Christian Dior
Christian Lacroix
Dominique Sirop
Franck Sorbier
Givenchy
Jean Paul Gaultier
Maurizio Galante
Stéphane Rolland

However, there are also Correspondent members (meaning foreign) that include:

Elie Saab
Giorgio Armani
Maison Martin Margiela
Valentino

Former members include:

Donatella Versace, Elsa Schiaparelli, Emilio Pucci, Chado Ralph Rucci, Erica Spitulski, Erik Tenorio, Fred Sethal, Guy Laroche, Hanae Mori, Jean Patou, Jean-Louis Scherrer, Lanvin, Loris Azzaro, Louis Feraud, Mainbocher, Marcel Rochas, Nina Ricci, Paco Rabanne, Pierre Balmain, Pierre Cardin, Ralph Rucci, Torrente, Yves Saint Laurent, Gai Mattiolo, and Anna May.

It is a hefty list of names with many talents and skills but also a lot of drama and business involved. But let us take a moment to focus on what actually goes on behind the doors of those that finally considered as houses of haute couture. This video is from Chanel, inside its atelier and condenses the process of the making of one of their dresses this season. Note the level of skill, attention to originality and detail, and quality of material.



(However, Roberto Cavalli, though not an official member, still has an atelier in Paris, calling it “made-to-measure” and still charging a minimum of 30,000 euros per dress)


On the Fédération française de la couture website, they list the responsibilities they owe to its members:
1. Reinforce Paris as the world capital of creative couture
2. Update database of accredited press list
3. Receive journalists and buyers at the International Press Centre at the Carrousel du Louvre (since 1994)
4. To facilitate the development of emerging brands (“En Avant-Première”)
5. Establish synergies between buyers, subcontractors, etc of fashion industry
6. Defend Intellectual Property Rights (fight against forgery)
7. Develop training in conjunction with l’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs
8. Solve collective problems of Federation members

And speaking of the Carrousel du Louvre, it has a special place in the heart of the fashion world. Since 1982, the Federation has utilized very notable locations for the site of each of its shows. The Cour Carrée and Cour Napoléon in the Louvre, then the Jardin des Tuileries and later the restored Cour Carrée. Then in 1994, the rooms of the Carrousel du Louvre were built to be the central point from which all other locations of shows during Paris fashion week were determined (based on transportation time and scheduling). There is a link to the floor plans of the Carrousel, particularly the two rooms they use most: Salle Lenotre and Salle Soufflot. I am in the process of trying to find more discernable plans and even sections for these rooms. And as of July of last year, Karl Lagerfeld presented his Chanel haute couture show at the fully restored Grand Palais. The runway set up and dimensions play a significant role in the presentation in this highly playful yet ridiculously serious world of couture.

The Fédération site also has very complete links to all the fashion houses it supports, official and guest members, and is a great collection for the general public to peruse. A more edited take on the Paris fashion week that just occurred would be through noted blogs, such as Jak & Jil. Tommy Ton’s perspective of the collections is a privileged yet still streetsmart take, with special attentions paid to what adorns the perfectly pedicured feet. It is a revised collection of a collection – which brings us back to the issue of curation