“As often have been said, the definition of fashion changes with time. Regarded as the epitome and the highest form of fashion, Haute Couture is singularly placed in our planetarium of fashion as the solar centre. We studied the history and intrigued by when and where Couture should be placed in the era of today.”

Last year in Paris Couture Fashion Week kicked off with a show by Vetements, a brand that before such announcement would be the furthest one associated with couture. Known for championing everyday apparel, Vetements is the cult brand that thrives on its rejection of exclusivity. The very essence of unattainability Haute Couture has always been known for, yet Vetements showed as special guest invited by The Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture itself. The collection is hodge podge collaboration with other brands such as Juicy Couture, Levi’s and Manolo Blahnik, tweaked with Vetement’s sensibility, one that strikes at the nostalgia of growing up in the ‘90s. A pontification of what couture can be with inclusion of menswear in Couture, and shown at department store no less. By all means, Vetemens isn’t Couture, nor does it ever want to be one. The invitation might as well be a stunt to inject attention and generate press on the whole proceeding, but we can’t help to question maybe something is at play here.

To put it simply, the word “Haute Couture” itself is something that is only bestowed into designers and atelier that meet the qualification of The Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in Paris. Those who don’t, but still use the moniker, are clearly in the game of evoking the luxury and excellent artistry those who formally appointed carry. A hollow attempt since one without official anointment more often than not becomes a subject of ridicule when they put couture in their brand’s title. The number of couture houses has significantly declined over the past century in larger part because of the rapid and brutal accent of ready to wear and social media. The markets especially costumer have no time for various fitting or patience for clothes that took weeks to make, no matter how different the qualities are.

Today, only 13 official Paris members included, among them are Alexandre Vauthier, Alexis Mabille, Bouchra Jarrar, Chanel, Christian Dior, Christophe Josse, Franck Sorbier, Giambattista Valli, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Maison Margiela, Stéphane Rolland and Yiqing Yin. With Correspondent Members such as Atelier Versace, Valentino, Ellie Saab and Victor & Rolf among others. What are required to join the clique you ask? Not as manic as you might guess apparently. Members must employ 15 or more people and present their collections twice a year. Each presentation must include at least 50 originals outfits for day and eveningwear. What makes it precious is how selective they are picked. Then there is Asian Couture Federation, an organization that put spotlight on Asian couturier. Counting Kenzo Takada, Lie Sang Bong, Gou Pei and our very own Sebastian Gunawan and Tex Saverio as appointed members. These voices put forth another reason to think that not all fashion people are thinking to leave the old guards of clothes making.

For many houses, each piece can only be purchased by one customer. Haute Couture is also made specifically for the client’s measurements; design, fit and fabrication are all prepared to the best of what the world can offer. It is estimated only 4.000 clientele of Couture exist in the world. The crème de la crème serviced with the utmost dedication by the atelier. In one telling scene in the movie, “Dior and I”, Raf Simon the creative director at the time are getting awry toward the les petites mains (small hands) who flies to Dubai to do fitting for important client instead of going to the collection fitting with Raf. That’s how important the regular client who spent hundred of thousands of dollars for one piece of art. Who you may ask these so called royalties? Back in the origin of Couture they are wealthy Parisian women, but in today’s economy they are mostly from countries that economically striving in the global market. Such as Russia, China, USA, and Middle East. Not counting the actual royals who are clientele from generation to generation. Getting back to the question at hand, in today’s obsession with anything instant and fast; fast fashion, see now buy now, and athleisure trend, where does couture exactly stand?

Each year, Couture collection is showcased twice for Spring and Autumn, making a Couture piece labor-intensive that can often take hundreds of hours to create. To stage this era of social media for it to be dramatic and memorable. But most of the designers who dabble in Haute Couture agree that showing their creative vision is necessary for their audiences to understand what they are thinking at the moment. Their vision would then be trickled to ready to wear both for menswear and womenswear. All the cost is worth to take to establish the power these big fashion houses have. The clothes itself may not be produced and only used for editorial purposes, but the show have greater meaning in the way how it can pushes other categories such as beauty and perfume. Haute Couture is what shapes the business and gives its stamp of luxury for the brand.

For an anecdote about the reality of fashion today and how it used to work before, we can glance at the recent controversy slash war between magazine editors who discredited bloggers as mere marketing tools for fashion brands and have no place in the pantheon of fashion. The bloggers fired back and make an innate argument that in today’s reality, where a reality star can be a cover of any influential magazines, when their Instagram’s post drive sales faster than writing a blog, fashion is definitely for everyone. Any of us can claim and own fashion. It’s the sign of time, be it social, economy and political. The world is messy and cluttered, people want to live and be happy in the now. So they demand reality. Maybe, oh maybe, this is the Couture of today. A personal gratification, the ultimate luxury of being able to decide how you want to be and how you want to look. We are the couturier of our life. This evolution of fashion is what attracted us to fashion in the first place, isn’t it? It’s forever changing, and who says things will stay the same years from now? What happened in Couture now is the definite proof of how things will change with time.

Here’s my argument for why Couture is still important. It is as simple as the sentence, “Fashion is never about reality”. We put on clothes, accessories, or even make up to run away from reality. To create certain image we want to project for ourselves and maybe toward other people too. For them to perceive us in certain way, we buy this “It” bags or shoes. We put ourselves as the ultimate insider or outsider by which brand we associated with and how we style ourselves. And there lies the beauty of Haute Couture; it presented to us ideas that are the furthest away from reality. The craftsmanship, the concept, the execution, the artistry, and the message imbued behind are not something we can easily find in ready to wear. It gives us the ultimate fantasy of what fashion can be when the thinkers are pushed beyond their limits. A chance to dream when reality may not always happen the way we want it. We all love reality, and as I’m typing this I’m dreading the reality of a deadline. But by scrolling my Instagram in this heyday of Spring 2017 Fashion Week, it reminded me to dream that the world is limitless and so should we. And how exciting it is to be able to feel that amidst all the chaos in the world?