Dior impresses and Versace dazzles in couture

Indian Express: France  may  have  lost  an  A  in  its credit rating, but fashion
seems to have won it back with a flourishing start to haute couture week -- from the A-list celebrities to Dior's 1950s A-line silhouettes. Monday marked the lavish return to Paris couture of Donatella Versace, who wowed spectators with her unapologetic glitz, gold and famous friends. Since haute couture is such an expensive affair -- shows have been known to cost in the millions -- Versace's decision to show in the French capital after eight years away appears to have been aided by the house's profitable 2011 collaboration with mass-market retailer H&M. Haute
   Image Link Flickr

couture, unlike ready-to-wear, is a protected French appellation existing only in Paris. The status is granted to select fashion houses that produce astronomically-priced, made-to-measure garments, bought by a shrinking number of super-wealthy women. Year upon year critics predict couture's demise, calling anachronistic an art form that generates little or no money in a profit-driven industry. Yet the presence this year of mega-brand Versace suggests otherwise. “Madame Versace's return after all this time shows that haute couture is not in the past. Versace knows they need couture. We tap the creativity (of haute couture) for ready-to-wear like an ideas factory”, said the president of the French Couture Federation, Didier Grumbach. For Christian Dior, it was less a question of tapping new ideas than revamping iconic old ones. Interim designer Bill Gaytten seems to have pleased the fashion crowd by revisiting Dior's iconic New Look, including reworked 1950s bar-suits Source: Indian Express

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