Paris Fashion Week 2025: What is haute couture, and why do runways show ‘unwearable' clothes?

Indian Express

20-07-2025

The most exclusive segment of the Paris Fashion Week, the Haute Couture Week, was held from July 7 to July 10. The event signifies the highest level of fashion that is both exclusive and legally safeguarded, featuring clothing that showcases a designer's creative abilities and the brand's craftsmanship.
Major design houses, including Rahul Mishra, Chanel, Dior, Schiaparelli, Giorgio Armani Privé, and Maison Margiela, presented their latest collections under the watchful eye of the organiser, Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode.
While celebrated for craftsmanship and conceptual vision, the collections, featuring sculptural forms, experimental materials, and elaborate constructions, reignited a persistent question among the lay audience: what is the functional purpose of these seemingly unwearable garments?
While the feathered headdresses, metallic body armour, or gravity-defying silhouettes gracing the Paris Haute Couture runways may never find their way to a consumer's wardrobe, their purpose transcends mere wearability.
Haute couture means 'high sewing' or 'high dressmaking' in French. Often used for clothing primarily produced in Paris, haute couture includes clothes made with great attention to detail, high-quality and expensive fabric, created using time-consuming hand-made techniques, and generally custom-designed for the wearer.
The official haute couture certification is given by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, and to be eligible, fashion houses must have a workshop in Paris, employ at least 20 staffers full-time, and present 'a collection of at least 25 original designs twice a year (January & July) at the Paris Couture Week,' according to the official website.
Thus, the label is not for those focused on mass production; instead, it emphasises exceptional craftsmanship, artistic creativity, and extravagant prices aimed at an ultra-elite clientele.
The term is also used for custom-fitted clothing in other fashion capitals like Milan, New York, and London.
The French term for ready-to-wear fashion is prêt-à-porter, which is also sold by haute couture houses.
The haute couture shown at fashion shows is rarely sold and is usually designed to boost the brand's image. Decreasing revenues have led some couture houses to drop their less profitable couture lines and concentrate solely on prêt-à-porter, resulting in their removal from the haute couture classification.
The perceived disconnect between runway and retail is deeply rooted in long-standing sociological and economic theories of the fashion industry. The 'Trickle-Down' theory, articulated by sociologist Georg Simmel, suggests that fashion is a tool for social stratification. Elite groups adopt unique, often costly styles to signify their status. When these styles are imitated by 'lower' social strata, the elite move on to new, exclusive looks, creating a continuous cycle. Haute couture runways are the starting point for these defining styles.
This desire to display status through consumption is termed 'conspicuous consumption,' coined by economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen in his 1899 book 'The Theory of the Leisure Class'. Veblen argued that the wealthy engage in lavish, non-essential spending (on goods like extravagant fashion) primarily to signal their wealth and social standing, not for the utility of the goods themselves. The more impractical or expensive an item, the more effectively it signals the owner's freedom from mundane concerns like practicality or cost.
Fashion shows, especially haute couture, epitomise conspicuous consumption. They showcase garments that are often restrictive or fragile, making them impractical for daily life but perfect for signalling wealth and exclusivity. The high cost of materials and labour makes these pieces quintessential Veblen goods. Their primary purpose is to assert the designer's creative authority, build prestige, and set trends that will later be simplified for mass consumption.
Is there more to fashion than prestige and wearability?
Beyond status signalling, haute couture shows serve a fundamental purpose: they are exhibitions of art. Fashion designers, particularly those working in haute couture, are artists whose medium is fabric, structure, and the human form. The runway is their gallery, and the garments are their sculptures or installations.
These creations explore conceptual ideas, push technical boundaries of construction and materials, tell stories, and reflect cultural moments in ways that ready-to-wear often cannot. The focus is on pure, unadulterated creative expression, innovation, and craftsmanship, akin to a painter's most experimental work or a sculptor's largest installation.
When asked about haute couture, Fashion designer Akshar Bhan said, 'You may not understand a painting by Picasso if you have not read about it. I feel the same about couture. When you wear a couture dress and walk on the ramp, it is to showcase a designer's ideas and creativity. Stitching these garments is not easy and varies by designer, with some specialising in embroidery and others in stonework.'
The 'art' displayed on the haute couture runway, however, doesn't stay confined to the gallery. It initiates the trickle-down effect in tangible ways. The radical colour palettes, novel fabric treatments, innovative silhouettes, distinctive prints, or even specific embellishment techniques debuted in couture gradually move down.
Muskaan Kanodia, a merchandiser at COYU, shared her views on the increasing accessibility of haute couture and said, 'Before social media, fashion shows were exclusive and only attended by buyers, fashion houses, and retailers. It took a long time for the trickle-down to happen, as people waited for fashion magazines to look at the runway designs. Now, everyone can watch runway shows on live streams, and haute couture focuses a lot on the brand's visibility and reach. Every brand has its very own 'design language.''
The design language reflects the brand's values, helping people recognise it through its visuals and messaging. 'Dior has a very subtle design language as compared to designers like Rahul Mishra, Tarun Tahiliani or Iris van Herpen,' Kanodia added.