FASHION is an art that reflects life. Every now and then we hear the names of Nina Rici, Yves Saint Laurent, Lanvin, Versace etc. There fashion designers influence our hair styles, what we wear, the way we put on makeup and even behave in this or that situation. Fashion designers determine our choice of clothing every season. A fashion calendar includes several very important events known as fashion weeks. Fashion weeks are organized each season for designers to exhibit their latest collections in runway shows and for buyers to have a look at the latest trends. Most importantly, they display the fashion industry what is in fashion and what is out of fashion for the season. The most significant fashion weeks are held in the fashion capitals, such as Milan, London, New York and Paris where luxury clothes (also called haute couture) are demonstrated. Haute Couture is a French term for expensive and fashionable clothes designed for ladies. Couture denotes dressmaking, sewing, or needlework and haute stands for elegant. Haute couture clothes are made for a particular customer from high-quality, expensive fabrics and sewed by hand commonly deploying time-consuming techniques. Therefore, couture items are luxurious and chic. Depending on the haute couture and the garment, the price of a couture item runs from $10, 000 for a blouse to $40, 000 and commonly beyond that figure. The price includes payments for the service, work, exclusivity and first-class fabrics of the highest quality. Besides, every customer will get a garment to fit them well. It takes around 100-150 hours to produce a handmade suit and up to 1000 hours for an evening dress embellished with thousands of beads sewed by hand. A fashion house like Chanel, for example, will have around 150 regular customers ordering luxury garments, and a couture house like Dior will make around twenty couture wedding gowns a year. Along with clothes, well-known fashion houses make chic luxurious accessories, such as hats, buttons, belts, gems, footwear, handbags. Those who can afford luxury clothes, pay for exclusivity and the privacy guaranteed by the system. |
