1. HAUTE COUTURE FASHION HOUSES

2. WHAT IS HAUTE COUTURE  Haute Couture is a French phrase  Couture means dressmaking, sewing or needlework  Haute means elegant or high  So together, it is making high fashion, beautiful original designs.

3. WHERE CAN I FIND COUTURE FASHIONS  Paris, France

4. WHAT IS THE CHAMBER SYNDICATE FOR HOUTE COUTURE AND WHERE IS IT LOCATED?  The chamber Syndicate is a regulating commission which determines which fashion design houses are eligible to be true haute couture houses.  The Chamber Syndicate is located in Paris and other places like Tokyo, New York, Milan and London.

5. I WANT TO BECOME A MEMBER!!!!!  So you think your fashions are haute couture and want to be come a major fashion house?  In order to classify as a couture house, you must produce 50 new and original designs of day and evening wear for each collection.  You must show two collections every year.  You must employ a minimum of 20 full time technical people.

6. WHY WOULD I WANT TO BECOME A MEMBER?  Prestige  Free advertising on French Television  Be known as the BEST

7. PRET-A-PORTER  We wear pret-a-porter every day, it’s ready to wear clothes that are sold in all stores.

8. HOW MANY DESIGN HOUSES ARE THERE?  There are eleven design houses that are official members.  Adeline Andre  Frank Sorbier  Christian Lacroix  Maurizio Galante  Stephane Rolland,  Anne Valerie Harsh  Chanel  Christian Dior  Givenchy  Dominique Strop  Jean Paul Gaultier

9. WHAT DO COUTURE CLOTHES COST  Upwards from $11,000 per garment

10. WHAT IS THE MARKET FOR COUTURE IN AMERICA?  In America, it is estimated that approximately 2000 women buy couture clothes and only 200 of the 2000 are regular customers.

11. CLASSWORK  Select a designer from a couture house from the previous slides that you would like to know more about.  Find three different fashions, paste a picture of the three different garments into a word document and describe them for me. Print and hand in at the end of the class.  This will help you to become more familiar with top designer fashions. Next week we will begin our journey into how a garment is put together.