The Couture Market Has Changed since the Days of King Louis XIV, the Real Question: What Does Profitability Look Like for Couture? If We Can Even Call It That.
By Lizzy Bowring
Last week, Europe’s eminent couture houses showcased their collections for S/S 23 with the ultimate in creativity, craftsmanship, and storytelling. Among those were Schiaparelli, Chanel, Dior, and Haider Ackerman for Jean Paul Gaultier, celebrating time-honoured traditions of the ateliers and craftspeople in opulent illustrations of their craft. Following on from Men’s Fashion week, it was a week filled with headline-making content and a surfeit of the biggest celebrity names in attendance. Along with this, eschewed an extensive social media presence, so prominent that the question, did the clothing come across louder than the social media,, deem immaterial? It appeared that those in attendance were more invested in being ‘scene’ at the shows rather than witnessing collections of highly crafted pieces and engaging in the unique storytelling from their creators.
Aside from the intimate couture traditions and the “intense effort and emotional attachment to each garment that exists for both the maker and the wearer,” Fashion Week is a massive business. And who attends is becoming a better indicator of a brand’s business strategy than ever before.
Influencers generate the most earned media value and is a platform more financially powerful than present-day magazines. So does this explain the plethora of A-listers sitting on the front row to watch the avant-garde and, in some cases, the inclusion of a few overt ready-to-wear collections; this may be a hint of broader changes to come in the industry. But does it take away from what Couture indeed should be?
Nigel Luck, who has been instrumental in mentoring several design creatives, adds–
“The Haute Couture Shows have, for a very long time, been about creating hype around these very beautiful and super-expensive bespoke garments that the very few can only afford. The inevitable publicity is a marketing dream to make money from the more affordable, commercial by-products: a Chanel lipstick or the infamous Chanel No.5”.
– Nigel Luck
What is Haute Couture?
Paris has been steeped in the history of Fashion as far back as Louis XIV, who turned Fashion and style into a source of wealth and power, laying the foundations for the preeminence of Paris fashion. Although true, “Haute Couture was born in 1845 with Charles Frederick Worth,” who transformed Fashion into the exclusive couture (sewing) craft it is today. And it was exclusive, not just to showcase the Couturier’s artistry but to create bespoke pieces for a select clientele in the privacy of the Atelier.
Observing and questioning how the scenario has evolved from a private event for a select few to an expansive platform for celebrities and influencers is fascinating. The very pinnacle of the Haute Couture style has changed radically from the attendees, the content, and the number of garments produced to a new ‘Hau–titude’ and, which for several, becomes a somewhat confusing approach.
Couture and Social Media Value
This last week demonstrated that a brand is no longer what it tells the consumer it is; instead, consumers tell each other what it is by promoting a brand’s goods through earned social media. Influencer presence allows a brand to connect with a new audience while increasing loyalty from existing customers. To determine the appropriate influencers for a brand to interact with, the creators must be extremely knowledgeable in understanding the current and future climate.
Consequently, Couture is leveraging its social media adulation in unprecedented ways, although it comes with some criticism and fuss. The response was swift at the opening of the week with Schiaparelli. Doja Cat, who incidentally boasts 25.2 million followers on Instagram, made a perfect late entry, commanding attention in a head-to-toe red silk faille bustier paired with a hand-knitted skirt and then covered her face, head, and arms with 30,000 Swarovski crystals. While Kylie Jenner, who has no less than 380 million followers on Instagram, drew Shocking! adoration on the front steps to Petit Palais in Paris, ‘sporting’ her Faux-Lion’s head.
Inspired by Dante’s inferno, the Surrealist codes of the house, now flowing through his veins of creativity, Daniel Roseberry sent fabulous hourglass-shaped dresses down the runway, bearing nothing less than expertly crafted faux animal heads. It caused a near-hysterical furore across social media and from fans alike.
Yet one had to move past the initial shock and concentrate on the collection’s beauty.
” It is obvious that the rise of Instagram influencers has been another publicity machine for these brands.” Nigel Luck adds, “a celebrity with 380 million followers wearing something from a Couture House at the Fashion Show is a very powerful and arguably cost-effective advertisement.”
Whatever the motive, the brand’s intent to attract more than a share of the attention at couture week was achieved. Une petite scandal drives dollars!
Schiaparelli was not alone. The Valentino Haute Couture event set the tone for the season. Pierpaolo Piccioli unveiled his 90-plus outfits at the Bridge Club on Pont Alexandre III, a perfect setting to invite guests into his world; stars and influencers became players in this new club. It was a centrifugal force of celebrities with a new nouveau riche, such as K-pop stars SUGA of BTS, who was picked as Valentino’s latest brand ambassador, ‘selected by the Maison in its pursuits of authenticity and individuality, the K-POP icon directly embodies the values of the house, making him the ideal ambassador.’ Other celebrities of note were Anne Hathaway, Sam Smith with 14.7 million followers, ( the star recently wearing a Valentino golden suit and cape made especially for him), Doja Cat, Baz Luhrmann, Kylie Minogue, and Dove Cameron. Piccioli not only knows how to generate the creation of beautiful garments but is innately predisposed to understanding the mode of the moment.
His tools of creativity attracted equal amounts of social interaction from his front-row listings, and as for the messaging, the word creativity may be misunderstood. His is a dual effort underscoring the meme of our times.
With an Instagram following of 54 million at Chanel, Virginie Viard also understands the requirements of the new clientele. (although presenting true Couture may have escaped the brand this season). The guests at Chanel who gathered at the Grand Palais Ephemere to take in the youthful collection drew an audience from Iman Perez, Lucy Boynton, to Angele and Vanessa Paradis, Roger Federer and his wife Miroslava Vavrinec, as well as Big Bang G-Dragon, and South Korean star Kim Go-Eun. But what does that say about its setting of a fabulous sculpted bestial menagerie and front-row casting? K-pop stars are proving to have a stronghold in the fashion and beauty industries, with several, as noted, being hired as luxury brand ambassadors to reach a larger global audience. Jimin is now the Ambassador for Dior, and his following exceeds 47.5 million. With these figures, one can understand why brands want to increase earned social media but at what cost? Do the glamour and the attraction override the true meaning of Couture, and is the whole event getting carried away without focusing on what makes the event matter?
Couture versus Couture
Creativity and a brand’s messaging could be the cost; they should really set the scene for the modus operandi for Haute Couture. At Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri sent out a collection inspired by American-born French actress, dancer, and singer Josephine Baker. The Creative Director is symbolic of her portrayal of the strength in women, and her messages ring loud and clear; however, how much of these tropes meant anything to her star-studded front row audience – Blackpink star Jisoo, actors Anya Taylor-Joy, Rosamund Pike, and Kirsten Dunst – one only knows. Maybe staying true to her aesthetic, is not setting a valuable precedent for the brand and the Creative Director could do well to move into the future instead of the past with modern aspirations that will command added following from a youthful audience. Dior’s Instagram following is more than 43 million.
Iris Van Herpen is another Haute Couture designer who stays true to her creative purpose of craftsmanship and storytelling. This S/S 23, she presented an ethereal collection captured underwater on film. Her messaging spoke into the memes of our times and the strength of femininity. While Her Instagram following is nowhere near her counterparts, her presentation was equally provocative to those who understand Couture’s premise.
On the other hand, there was a show that ticked the right boxes for an old-world couture presentation, but it spoke volumes. Within a sublime couture setting, Haider Ackerman for Jean Gaultier focussed on the aesthetics of his craft and, with modern creative crafting and messaging, generated visible emotion from his audience. It was classic, without all the ceremony of other collections, but it achieved the penultimate in effect and was praised as the most important collection for the week. Models walked the show deliberately, slowly, and quietly. “I wanted the models to be very graceful, and I wanted to have something tranquil. The world is so loud.”
And it is loud. Loud and as extrovert as it gets. The Thierry Mugler show was not an Haute Couture presentation. Yet, here we are, presented with a Pret-a-Porter Mugler show that ‘gatecrashed’ the week, causing excessive media excitement and throwing up much of what we questioned about the relevance of social media in Couture. The Creative director at Thierry Mugler took advantage of what the week had to offer regarding A-listers and media attention. Irina Shayk, Eva Herzigová, Amber Valletta, and Paloma Elsesser walked the show. Lisa Rinna and Charlie XCX sat in the front row, revealing little else – a g-string under a blazer or much of the body as seen through the transparent sheath. Their Instagram following combined reaches 8 million. Now with little left to the imagination, what message is this sending?But, Sex and controversy sell! Either way, the point made, social media, on behalf of the brand, had its say.
It is true to say that every brand wants to be a part of Couture’s hallucinogenic repertoire. But are we missing the point?
Sidney Toledano, head of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, lauded the week, citing “creativity, quality, and desirability”. Haute Couture is the opportunity to present a stage where Creative designers demonstrate their incredible craft by celebrating the ateliers and the ‘petites mains.’ Is creativity in danger of being swallowed up by the importance of Social Media and those that need to be “scene”!
Luxury fashion is highly reliant on expert craftsmanship, which gives it its value when long-term desirability is more important than anything else. Craftsmanship is implanted in the DNA of creative directors who feel that the power of distinctive messaging will become even more critical in the future. People are increasingly valuing this work as they value art. “If you stand before a painting, you’d say I want to understand. Often we don’t stand in front of clothing and say I want to understand this. That’s what Couture invites us to do, to dive deeper.” – Sidney Toledano.
There is a danger of the lines blurring between Haute Couture and RTW, yet there is an enormous difference, and it should be treated in such a way.
Which is more important, on the one hand, the social media or the other, the presence of creativity and messaging, can one do without the other? There must be a happy balance.
The times are changing rapidly, and while Couture appears to be more valuable as a marketing ploy, with the intense amount of social media messaging, we need to stay focused and remind ourselves of the expertise of the couture ateliers that reinforces the tradition and provides an opportunity to express thoughts, spirited creativity, and the highest level of artistry; this is what Haute Couture is about, lest we forget!
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women are merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts (As you like it)