We excitingly followed the Fall 2023 couture collections from designer houses like
Schiaparelli to Elie Saab to Zuhair Murad. As another month of Fashion Week is here, it is the perfect time to do an introduction to fashion terms to catch everyone up. This blog post will cover terms you might often hear but get confused about.
Couture
It sounds fancy, but what does it really mean? Couture refers to handmade garments designed for private clients. They are made-to-order and they are made with high-quality fabrics. It takes about 200-500 hours to create a custom-made garment, where certain pieces can go for more than $100,000. They are not pre-manufactured and do not have standardized sizes. Couture shows take place twice a year: Spring/Summer in January and Fall/Winter in July. Every fashion brand, unfortunately, can’t have a couture line due to specific criteria of haute culture.
Haute couture
In French, it directly translates to “high dressmaking.” Haute couture consists of expensive, hand-crafted garments and it operates through made-to-order for private clients. While haute couture and couture almost mean the same thing, haute couture can only be used by brands that the French Ministry of Industry approves. Couture houses in this category have a list of requirements, such as employing at least 15 people at a workshop and presenting at least thirty-five looks in a collection every fashion season.
Made-to-order
Since couture only serves private clients, every piece is made to order. This means the pieces are created according to a client’s specifications. It literally means that a garment will be sewn once a client orders it. Couture’s exclusivity remains a problem, but it's made-to-order feature reduces overproduction and garment waste.
Atelier
This French word translates to workshop that is used for art. Ateliers are where haute couture collections are created.
Ready-to-wear (prêt-à-porter)
This refers to clothes that are mass-produced in standard sizes, which is the opposite of couture. Some call it a way of making haute couture, or high fashion, more accessible. They are available to try and purchase in-store.
Ready-to-wear collections are displayed during Fashion Weeks (The “Big Four” take place in New York City, Paris, Milan and London). These take place twice a year in February and September. Two main ready-to-wear seasons are Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter.
Off-the-rack
This actually refers to the same thing as ready-to-wear.
Cruise collection
This is a mid-season collection, otherwise known as "resort" and "holiday," that gives fashion brands an opportunity to show a new collection between the main ready-to-wear seasons. May and June are when Cruise shows get on the runway.
Menswear
Menswear is the same as ready-to-wear fashion but only consisting of menswear. It takes place multiple times throughout the year, where all the big houses hold menswear shows.
Meliha Ural is the Editor-in-Chief of Revolution's blog.
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