FASHIONREPORTERS

PARIS, Feb 7, 2008 /FR/— A fortnight has gone since the Paris Haute Couture collections were presented on the catwalk.  Now that we are back in the craze of the ready-to-wear season for next fall, it could be the right time to look back on the Haute Couture presentations for Spring 2008 and try to analyze what has been happening.

Especially since Mr. Yves Saint Laurent has decided -back in 2002- to retire, it has been a leitmotiv and a cliché to announce the death of Haute Couture. Actually, six years after this event, this highest discipline of fashion is still alive and full of appeal for young designers and big names alike, showing that it could still be seen as pertinent for today.

However, after attending many “on calendar” and “off calendar” shows in January in Paris, the overall impression is not entirely satisfactory, and this might come from various reasons, which I have been trying to list here:

The “Paper Clip Couture”.  The off calendar shows were really very poor. Attending them is also a must in my eyes though, as they could give an indication in the grand scheme of things about alternative movements, but many of them were really disappointing. They consisted of some names which have been on the list of invited members by the Chambre Syndicale and who no longer are. When you check, you understand why. They are showing only approximations of fashion design, not to mention couture techniques which might be part of the designer’s vocabulary but not among their real skills. Bad proportions, few innovations, tacky silhouettes, little investment, no selling is their poor equation. They are just useless in every point and should just stop showing because this is their only activity in the field, and only flattering for the concerned designers’ egos.

The “Pretentious Dressmakers”. There is another kind of designers showing in this category. They differ from the previous on one point: they sell and invest some money on rich embroideries and/or on some personalities paid to attend their shows. Most times their creations are only dresses, with heavy embroideries, their silhouettes, a bad re-hash of previous creations by other more talented names. Most times they are coming from the Middle-East, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, or Georgia (former USSR) and are targeting only the portion of fashion uneducated customers from these countries.They only show in Paris to give their brand an international shine attached foirever to the City of Lights. Their performances though are bringing a king=d of strange gloom on the Prais runways, especially when they dare use the name Haute Couture by their logo!

The “Bling-Bling Customers”. When these women buy couture or haute couture, they just want to shine. They are never looking at design innovations, they are just demanding for their outfits to show that they are rich. They prefer gowns that are embroidered with real diamonds as opposed to rhinestones, they demand silk taffeta but cannot differentiate a silk tulle from a tulle made of synthetic fabric. Embroideries are never admired by them for their lightness but probably, above all, for their ability to match the full jewellery sets that they already own, so that they can also wear it with their expensive outfit. They do not support Haute Couture, they are betraying it, killing it slowly, looking only for the social rank that goes with it. However If a habit does not a monk make, a bad couture dress does not a VIP make either; and you can rest assured, justlooking at them, that money can never buy elegance, chic or class. Their skill at recognizing a good designer can be measured easily on the number of bad facelifts or plastic surgery they have already had.

The “Fake Martyrs of Haute Couture”. They are among the invited members and they have been showing as designers in this category for many seasons now. At the beginning, they had one or two innovative ideas that made people think they were worth keeping an eye on. Now, as they are clinging onto their status of invited members, they are only showing the same pieces which did not really make a statement in the previous seasons, without reinventing themselves at all. They will go on showing until Chambre Syndicale will withdraw them from the list, and maybe even after. They are passionate about Haute Couture as long as they fit in the frame, as they can only be in love with themselves or their own creations.

The “Short-Sighted Big Names”. They rule and want more. They all belong to the list of Haute Couture full members. A bad critic about their shows is a total taboo. They have forgotten that haute couture should be the sharpest part of their Research and Development or the dream factory for their brand. Instead of using their collection as a laboratory for innovation, they showcase their dresses only meant for the museum of unwearable pieces;  as an alterb=native, they can also try to make this image line viable by using augmented percentages of profit, either not using the adequate finishings and techniques or making their prices too high for what the pieces represent. They claim they are the utmost luxury but in fact, they are trying to decrease their production costs. They dream about ruling the world of fashion alone and of killing their rivals, but they are only killing themselves with their thirst for monopoly and easy money.

I have not put names in these categories out of respect for the people working as “petites mains” in some houses. However, I can identify a few who are not among any of these on my eyes and who might soon, we do hope, renew, together with some very talented new faces, the concept of Haute Couture. Felipe Oliveira Baptista, Alexis Mabille,  Stéphane Rolland are certainly already counted as good among the invited members. Among the big names of the official members Adeline André, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Franck Sorbier are doing the Paris Haute Couture scene much good… It would require a miracle though to create more enthusiasm from the really big names for Haute Couture to re-breathe more enegetically, also more daring creations among young designers and more courageous financiers to back them up in the long run. Last but not least, more educated customers are required urgently, especially those who would buy Haute Couture pieces like they are buying a piece of Art, to support the talented designer !

JEAN PAUL CAUVIN