Saturday, May 1, 2010

Oscar De La Renta says, "Couture Has Become Completely Irrelevant"


while reading the New york Times, I came across a post that really interested me. Take a look.

"""The market for couture has shifted. Whereas in the past American socialites would buy couture dresses and parade them around town promoting the label, that's just not the customer anymore. Pre-fall! Resort! Daywear! That's what American women are buying, according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal. Everyone looks so casual. Oscar de la Renta, who designed Balmain’s couture collection for nine years (1993–2002), sees no point in creating couture clothes at all. "Couture has become completely irrelevant," he told the Journal. "Couture isn’t necessary, even to promote the brand. Customers are smart. They know that a $10,000 wedding dress will look as beautiful as a $1 million wedding dress. Maybe it will not be finished the same way inside, but who will know?"

So who's buying couture? Women in the Middle East and Russia. "For this very moneyed class, it’s less about the luxuriousness of wearing exquisite handmade to-order creations and more about conspicuous consumption and making museums out of their closets," the Journal reports. A couture dress by Elie Saab costs $600,000. Saab said a sheikh’s wife buys an average of six gowns each season. """

What made me read this was for one, the title. I agree that couture has become irrelevant to some extent. After taking my Great Designers class at school I've learned that people do not utilize couture the way it was years ago. Couture used to be worn everyday centuries ago. Couture is what help people distinguish the different between a socialite and a regular person. Now couture is only used on red carpets, award shows, and sometimes music videos. The only exception I would have to make is Lady Gaga. She is our generation's muse for Haute Couture, PLAIN AND SIMPLE. But she is about the only one. Couture is not seen at all much anymore except those special occasions. Why is that? What was happening then that is not happening now for us to not see couture as much anymore? hmmmm...

1 comment:

  1. mean thats the whole point of couture clothing..to pormote and create Art. some garments and clothing r just too beautiful to be worn

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