Think the fashion biz is pure glamour? Get a firsthand look at different fashion professionals, including a couture designer to find out what working in the industry is really like.
A Typical Day
That nothing is ever typical in the world of fashion, and more specifically, haute couture is what makes my work both challenging and exciting. No day is ever ‘routine’, although we begin and end each day more or less the same: in early, out late.
Appointments are scheduled throughout the day. Each meeting provides the client and myself the opportunity to gauge the progress of a project as it passes through the various stages of development from design concept through completed garment. Development of couture garments is particularly laborious, requiring many hours to fabricate a product that is of such superior and exquisite quality as deserves the label, haute couture. Herein lies the largest obstacle in an otherwise ideal vocation: how to balance the time.
We may begin the day with a final fitting. Here the last details are discussed and finalized with the client. Hemlines are established, findings chosen, and any final adjustments are made to perfect the fit of the garment to the satisfaction of all involved.
A series of image sketches portraying variations of a basic design concept; accompanied by suggestions of appropriate fabrics may be the subject of conversation with our next client. It isn’t easy to translate a verbal description of an abstract design idea into tangible reality, and sketches help identify whether or not we have correctly interpreted what the client envisions.
If we have a successful rendering, we will proceed to chart the client’s body measurements, which takes about twenty minutes. The measurements serve the valuable purpose of providing a numeric representation of the human form. Most people inquire why so many measurements are needed, but are accommodating when it is explained that good fit is dependent on extensive and accurate numbers.
Before leaving the client is advised of fabric and labor costs, and informed of the length of time needed to produce the garment (usually six to eight weeks for a suit), along with the approximate number of fittings they will be asked to commit to. Their next appointment will be to fit the muslin mock-up, and is usually scheduled a week later to allow time to draft the pattern, and cut and stitch the muslin.
After the shop closes, time slips by unnoticed as work continues well into the night. The best work often is the product of late night marathons, where concentration is plentiful and focused. But sometimes, long nights yield less than desirable results and productivity is barely measurable, leaving one feeling frustrated and unproductive. It takes perseverance to endure the long hours required to achieve the stringent production and quality standards characteristic of couture. With haute couture, compromise is never an option.
The Best/Worst Part of the Job
It is not difficult for me to define the worst and best aspects of haute couture. In fact, it is easily summed up in one word: perfection. Perfection very often is my nemesis. Striving for flawlessness in a field that, traditionally, expects and demands it, is the fundamental reason projects take so many hours to complete. A suit may consume some two hundred hours from start to finish, depending on the level of inner/outer construction and finish work commissioned.
Creating and delivering this level of quality requires inexhaustible energy. Paradoxically, it is to this same ideal that I attribute the feeling of exhilaration and accomplishment I experience when a client is presented with the completed piece. The gratitude and awe expressed by each client praising my ability to realize and exceed their expectations is my greatest reward.
More Thoughts
That we live in a society that embodies the notion of instant gratification and embraces the catchwords of the day: ‘disposable’ and ‘convenience’ is indisputable and irrevocable. Thus, the extinction of a time consuming, precision oriented, specialized craft such as haute couture seems imminent. Weighing heavily in the balance of its perilous existence are the very concepts then, that define fine craftsmanship. Sacrifice of the well honed skills that elevate haute couture, would cease to distinguish the fine art from other clothing producing segments of the fashion industry.
In the spite of such grim observations, I am indeed optimistic for the future. As long as there are patrons to appreciate and covet this labor-intensive art form of a bygone era, and couturiers dedicated to the practice and preservation of it, the dying art will survive.
Contact Roxie,Designer,at House of Couture
P.O. Box 3288
Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067 Phone: 858-756-8619
