High fashion syndicate periods of development. Haute Couture or Paris Fashion Syndicate. Georg Simmel and his concept of fashion

In 1868 Charles Worth created the High Fashion Syndicate / Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne - an organization that united salons in which the highest circles of society dressed.

"Towards this decision Charles Worth, apparently, was prompted by two reasons: on the one hand, the desire to protect famous tailors from copying their designs (since the Syndicate protects the copyrights of its members); on the other hand, to offer clients exclusive models that would distinguish them from ordinary bourgeois.

In the 19th century, fashion arose in the upper classes, which, with the help of new fashionable designs, emphasized their difference from the lower classes.

But since all class restrictions are abolished in bourgeois society, the middle and then lower classes can imitate the fashion of the elite. In an effort to indicate their high social status, the upper classes again adopted new models - the masses again copied the fashion of the elite. And so on endlessly.

At the end of the 19th century, a German sociologist Georg Simmel explained these mechanisms of the emergence and functioning of fashion in the "elite theory" of fashion (dubbed the "trickle-down effect concept").

Charles Worth felt the need of the highest circles of society for exclusive fashion .

The idea of high fashion provided precisely this need. Charles Worth began to put his name on models (as an artist signs his works) - the name of a couturier acquired value as a guarantee High Quality, and then as a sign of high social status. Essentially, the licensing system, which actively developed in the second half of the 20th century, was based precisely on this label with the name of the tailor or the name of the atelier, which, following Worth, other couturiers and high-class tailors in all countries began to sew onto their models.

The haute couture syndicate (which still exists) is reminiscent of a medieval guild: only members of this organization can be called couturier.

To join the Syndicate, you must meet certain requirements - to make models to individual order and using handcraft (which, according to Worth, ensured the highest quality and exclusivity against the backdrop of distribution sewing machines). Subsequently, new requirements were added: to conduct regular fashion shows for clients and the press, twice show new seasonal collections every year.

Currently, a couturier can call himself someone who is a member of the Syndicate of Haute Couture, has a Haute Couture House in Paris and complies with the following requirements: shows new collections twice a year at Paris Fashion Week, and also organizes shows for clients (nowadays they are often replace video recordings).

In addition, when making models, the prevailing handmade(currently allowed up to 30% machine stitches). In the early 1990s. collections must include at least 75 models per year, at the end of the decade 50 models were enough.

The number of employees also changed - if at the beginning the workshops had to have at least 20 employees and three permanent fashion models, then at the end of the 1990s these requirements were relaxed - they were accepted into the High Fashion Syndicate Jean-Paul Gaultier And Thierry Mugler, who did not have even half the required number of workers.”

Ermilova D.Yu., History of fashion houses, M., “Academy”, 2003, p. 14.

10 March 2015, 17:55

The origin of the phrase “haute couture” in Russia is often not understood, or rather, confused. In fact, this is a pronunciation of the French term “haute couture”, literally translated - “haute tailoring”, “High fashion”, and not at all the Russian “from Eliseev”, “from Slava Zaitsev” or “from Versace”! Now let's turn to the essence of this concept. Haute couture clothing is not just something elegant, dizzying or handmade - it is, strictly speaking, models of those few fashion houses that are part of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.

A story similar to champagne - as you remember, only wine from the Champagne region that complies with all the rules of the French “National Institute of Appellations of Origin” (INAO) has the right to be called and cost like champagne, and similar drinks from California, Canada and Russia will forever remain just “sparkling wines”. In general, the Syndicate of Haute Couture is a purely French trade union, closed to foreigners for a long time. With global international influence - after all, over several centuries, Paris has won its status as the capital of fashion!

The rather strict rules by which fashion houses and ateliers of the corresponding class can apply to join the Syndicate are regulated by French law, and the final list of its members is approved by the Ministry of Industry. Everything is serious and at the state level. By monopolizing the “haute couture” label and creating the Syndicate, France earned the right to put its own “quality mark” and, accordingly, prices. The history of haute couture (that is, “High Fashion”) is the social history of Europe. The first couturier in the modern sense was the Englishman Charles Frederick Worth, who specially moved to Paris to open his fashion house there.

This was in 1858. Why is he considered the first? Because he was the first to dictate his vision of fashion to aristocratic clients, and they appreciated him! After him, other fashion designers began to do the same. Worth was the first to divide collections by season, the first to sew a ribbon with his name on the outfit, and the first to introduce clothing shows on live models, abandoning the then common practice of sending to clients rag dolls, dressed in the proposed mini-outfit.

His customers, including the crowned heads of nine royal courts, famous actresses and the richest people of that time, chose models from the collection, which were then sewn from the proposed fabrics according to their figure and size. In general, Worth became a real revolutionary in tailoring; He was the first to see an artist in a tailor, and not just a craftsman, and proudly called him “couturier.” And, by the way, he was not at all shy about charging very high prices for his ball gowns! In France, and throughout Europe, clothing has long remained a distinctive sign of class, rank and status in the social hierarchy. The law prohibited the lower classes from wearing clothes made of a certain fabric and even a particular color.

The French Revolution changed everything! At this time, a decree was issued allowing all citizens of the Republic to wear any clothing they wished. In this regard, the sewing business took off sharply, and in 1868 the most high-status fashion designers who dressed the highest circles of society united in the Professional Syndicate of Couturiers to protect their copyrights from plagiarism by tailors who dressed ordinary bourgeois. At the end of the 19th century, to join this organization, fashion houses had to sew outfits to order and only by hand, which, according to Charles Worth, guaranteed the uniqueness of the model and high quality (as opposed to machine production). And a little later, everyone was obliged to hold regular fashion shows for clients and demonstrate new seasonal collections twice a year, that is, to “promote themselves.” Only a member of the Syndicate had the right to bear the title of “couturier”. Clients who wanted to emphasize their individuality and high position in society went to shows and dressed only from such masters.

So, in 1900, the couture “workshop” consisted of 20 fashion houses, in 1925 - 25, in 1937 - already 29. Along with the Parisian houses there were ateliers and fashion houses created by Russian emigrant aristocrats: IrFe, Iteb, Tao, Paul Caret and others. Since 1910, the Syndicate has transformed into the Chamber of Haute Couture, which began to promote French fashion on the international market. Immediately after the Second World War, the Chamber organized a traveling exhibition - Theater of Fashion, in which 53 fashion houses took part. Over the next year, the number of Houses increases to 106! This time is called the “golden years” of couture: 100 shows per season take place in Paris, more than 46 thousand people work for Haute Couture, 15 thousand customers use the services of the Houses, mainly representatives of the “old money” of Europe and America, aristocrats . Such famous ladies as the Duchess of Windsor or Gloria Guinness order entire collections for their wardrobe.

Sonsoles Diez de Rivera y de Icaza, a Spanish aristocrat who dressed for Cristóbal Balenciaga: “When my mother, a regular client of Eisa (Balenciaga’s Spanish atelier) and just his friend, found out that the couturier was closing everything and retiring, she experienced a real shock , because I literally ordered my entire wardrobe from him for decades and simply didn’t understand what to do now. His clothes, sewn for one client, were completely different from those he made for another. He knew them that well.”

Wedding dress made by Balenciaga for Sonsoles Diez de Rivera and de Icaza

The reason why Balenciaga and other couturiers were forced to sadden their clients so much was the advent of the 60s with their “revolution of the young,” youth music and youth subcultures. That's it - now the trend is set by rebellious idols, and London becomes the center of fashion for young people! Fashion is sharply losing its elitist character and turning into a mass democratic industry.

The time has come for prêt-à-porter - the ready-to-wear industry! A mere mortal has the opportunity to buy designer items in stores. Unable to withstand the competition, the ateliers closed one after another, and by 1967 there were only 18 fashion houses left in Paris. At that time, Parisian haute couture survived only thanks to the “Arab princesses,” the wives and daughters of Saudi or Qatari oil sheikhs, who came to Paris and, without counting, spent money on exclusive outfits from famous brands. The new rich from the USA, who made fortunes for themselves, for example, in Silicon Valley, were not interested in “High Fashion”, the “new money” had completely different ways of social self-presentation, everyone was obsessed with charity, and buying an extremely expensive outfit was morally unacceptable for them. Therefore, at the end of the 20th century, when the wallets of the Arab clientele were affected by the oil crisis, several large Parisian Houses (Torrente, Balmain, Féraud, Carven, Jean-Louis Scherrer, Givenchy and Ungaro) suspended shows.

Parisian couture needed to be saved! Marketers and financiers were tasked with monitoring changes in heart rate and maintaining immunity. It was then, in fact, that people appeared in the management of fashion houses who just yesterday were successfully selling yoghurts or diapers. But still, why didn’t the French give up this expensive business and why do they take the seemingly ordinary tailoring craft so seriously?

Firstly, it is enough to watch how a dozen craftswomen hand embroider a detail of a dress or process feathers specially brought from South Africa to understand that “High Fashion” is not just a decadent whim for the rich, but a real art of sewing. A labor-intensive, expensive and rare art for those who can afford it (imagine, one dress usually takes 200 to 500 hours of work).

Secondly, the value of French couture lies in the use of the labor of high-class artisans who, in traditional French specialized ateliers, produce lace, pleating, feather decorations, buttons, flowers, costume jewelry, gloves and hats commissioned by fashion houses. All this is done by hand, with soul, just like in the old days. good times, and therefore simply cannot be cheap! If these ancient ateliers are not provided with orders, then their centuries-old knowledge and experience will forever disappear in the whirlpool of mass fashion made in China. In general, couture is not just a cultural heritage, but an emotional component of the “modern France” brand, and as long as couture traditions are strong in Paris, France will stand above any of the world’s fashion capitals!

Having accepted the rules of the game of modern fashion business, the Chamber of Haute Couture is actively involved in management and marketing, it organizes the haute couture week, held annually in January and July, establishes and maintains relations with the press and buyers around the world, and since 2001 has simplified draconian conditions for admission to the Syndicate.

Today, to obtain the status of a Haute Couture House, you must have your main production (ateliers, workshops, stores) in Paris in order to be legally part of the French Department of Industry; pay for the work of at least 15 permanent employees - silk specialists, high-class cutting specialists (previously - 20 employees and three permanent fashion models), demonstrate 35 models on the catwalk twice a year (in the early 1990s, the collection had to include not less than 75 models per season). All haute couture dresses are made only in one copy, the number of machine seams should not exceed 30%, finishing and decoration should be made according to ancient traditions, in those very specialized Parisian ateliers. Plus a large entrance fee - where would we be without it! These “concessions” made it possible to accept Jean-Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler into the Syndicate.

Despite the modernization of the entire system, the old French houses went bankrupt and one after another left the game, so to attract new luxury brands, another category of participation was introduced - “Invited Members of the Syndicate”. And yes, now rare foreigners are being accepted into the Syndicate under special conditions. Houses Versace, Valentino, Elie Saab, Giorgio Armani, whose headquarters are outside Paris, become corresponding members of the Chamber. In addition, a defile-off option appears: an opportunity for young designers, for several hundred thousand dollars, to show their collections not “as part of”, but “on the margins” of the haute couture week (by the way, Ulyana Sergeenko took advantage of this opportunity not so long ago) . This move has a very practical explanation: it is almost impossible for young designers to get into the prêt-à-porter week schedule, it is packed to capacity, but in the couture week there is plenty of space, which means there is a greater chance of being noticed.

Since 2005, life begins to return to haute couture, and “fashion for Haute Couture” comes. The barely alive Givenchy resumed shows; then representatives of the Houses of Christian Lacroix and Jean Paul Gaultier started talking about increasing orders; Christian Dior sells 45 couture dresses straight from the catwalk. Chanel claims that its current haute couture clients are not only Middle Eastern millionaires and eccentric Russians, but also Europeans, Americans, Indians and Chinese. Giorgio Armani greatly surprised fashion industry analysts by launching his couture line Armani Prive in 2005 - what does a 70-year-old Italian who has never done Haute Couture and built his empire on classic jackets and trousers expect? Nevertheless, his bet on super-luxury turned out to be correct (as in 2012 - on the Armani / Dolci line of preserves and jams): clothes costing 15,000 euros, which take 2 months to create, are in demand among his European clients. In addition, both Armani and Chanel pay for their head seamstress to fly on a private plane to carry out fittings directly at the client's place: many of them do not attend the fashion show, protecting their privacy. Fashion houses are increasingly holding private shows in showrooms in New York, Dubai, Moscow, New Delhi or Hong Kong, because only 10% of clients purchase couture items in Paris.

The English newspaper Telegraph once quoted the words of a young couture buyer from Kazakhstan: “In our country magnificent wedding- this is the norm. My respected family cannot allow me to appear at a wedding in simple dress. And under no circumstances should another guest wear the same outfit. So haute couture for such cases is more of a necessity than a luxury. Our fathers and husbands take this fact for granted. The social calendar of a respected wealthy woman from the East, according to couture studios, is from fifteen to twenty weddings a year, plus at least one private party every month. It is much more saturated than that of the richest women in Europe and North America, for whom weddings of members of royal families and charity high society balls are a worthy occasion to wear haute couture outfits. It’s just a pity that photo reports from oriental balls cannot be seen in the social sections of glossy magazines.”

To prevent two dresses from “meeting” at the same party, fashion houses ask numerous questions with each order, including: “What event are you invited to?”, “Who is accompanying you?”, “What type of transport will you use to get to the place?” events?”, “How many guests are expected?” Representatives of the studio clearly keep records of which country and event this or that outfit will go to.

But the most amazing thing is that the same haute couture traditions that Worth promoted 160 years ago are still alive! The dresses still shown on the catwalk are the reference model. In the same way, the client chooses a model that she likes, then she sews it by hand new model according to the figure. True, now they even make special mannequins for regular clients, exactly according to their standards. But just like Worth, these things cannot be cheap: the price of an evening dress will be approximately 60 thousand dollars, a suit - 16 thousand dollars, a dress - from 26 to 100 thousand dollars.

Each of the houses producing haute couture (except, perhaps, such giants as Chanel and Christian Dior) has an average of 150 regular clients, which is not much more than the court tailors in the 17th century. Despite the fact that there are no more than two thousand customers all over the world, and the main income of the Houses will still be perfume, cosmetics, accessories and bags, it is in this union of pure creativity and industry that the bright future of fashion lies. Professionals predict two ways for the development of couture in the 21st century: first, the couture line will become a laboratory of ideas, a manifesto and a conceptual statement. The second is a “return to basics”: working with clients, creating for them a wardrobe that will decorate them in all possible life situations.

As of 2012, the official members of the Syndicate of Haute Couture were (could not find more recent information):

Adeline André

Christian Dior

Christophe Josse

Franck Sorbier

Givenchy

Jean Paul Gaultier

Gustavo Lins (fr)

Maurizio Galante

Stéphane Rolland

Jewelry brands - members of the Syndicate:

Chanel Joaillerie

Van Cleef & Arpels

Corresponding members: Elie Saab, Giorgio Armani, Giambattista Valli, Valentino, Versace.

Invited guests: Alexandre Vauthier, Bouchra Jarrar, Iris Van Herpen, Julien Fournié, Maxime Simoens, Ralph & Russo, Yiqing Yin.

Former members: Anna May, Anne Valérie Hash, Balenciaga, Callot Soeurs, Carven (fr), Christian Lacroix, Ektor Von Hoffmeister, Elsa Schiaparelli, Emilio Pucci, Erica Spitulski, Erik Tenorio, Escada, Fred Sathal, Gai Mattiolo, Grès, Guy Laroche, Hanae Mori, Jacques Fath, Jacques Griffe (fr), Jacques Heim, Jean Patou, Jean-Louis Scherrer, Jeanne Lafaurie, Joseph, Junaid Jamshed, Lanvin, Lecoanet Hemant (fr), Lefranc Ferrant, Loris Azzaro, Louis Feraud, Lucien Lelong, Mad Carpentier, Louise Chéruit, Madeleine Vionnet, Madeleine Vramant, Maggy Rouff, Mainbocher, Mak Shoe, Marcel Rochas, Marcelle Chaumont, Nina Ricci, Paco Rabanne, Patrick Kelly, Paul Poiret, Pierre Balmain, Pierre Cardin, Rabih Kayrouz, Ralph Rucci, Robert Piguet, Ted Lapidus, Thierry Mugler, Sophie, Torrente (fr), Yves Saint Laurent

Updated 11/03/15 00:49:

Video of how haute couture clothes are made

Updated 11/03/15 01:16:

How pleating is done

Updated 11/03/15 18:40:

Dior of Galliano's time

Updated 11/03/15 18:55:

It appeared back in 1927 as one of the institutions of the High Fashion Syndicate (Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture). He determines the status of fashion designers, organizes shows and selects houses that can join the Syndicate. To join, you must meet a number of requirements: all production must be located in Paris and fall under the jurisdiction of the French Department of Industry; the brand must employ at least fifteen employees; designers must present new collections twice a year (at least 30 dresses in each fashion show). The Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Сouture Parisienne school was supposed to become a place that trained and produced high-level fashion designers who in the future could become members of the Syndicate.

Fashion school Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale, photo: ecole-couture-parisienne.com

Features of training

The school provides several courses and programs for students of different levels: for beginners, for working people and for professionals (the latter direction is rare in universities of this type). The most popular areas include management, fashion and marketing. Thus, at the bachelor’s degree “Design and Modeling” you will be told about design, the basic principles of the artistic and technical aspects of fashion, the history of fashion and taught how to use modern computer programs. After four years of study, students choose a specialization (Design or Cutting/Construction). Graduates who have distinguished themselves in their undergraduate studies, after completing a four-year course, have the opportunity to immediately receive a Master 1 diploma (the same as a Russian specialty).

In addition to long-term classes, you can also attend lecture courses to improve your skills. Thus, people with experience in the fashion industry can attend master classes and trainings on modeling, draping, bias cutting, methods of creating volumes and other topics. Admission to such programs is also carried out on a competitive basis, the duration of the entire course varies from six months to two years.

The school helps students in their self-realization by organizing fashion shows and exhibitions of their work, and also invites leading designers and representatives of the fashion industry as lecturers, who share their experience with students and advise them.

Famous graduates

The list of names of Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Сouture Parisienne graduates speaks for itself. Fashion designers Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Valentino, Andre Courrèges, Lefranc, Stéphane Rolland, Issey Miyake, Olivier Lapidus and others studied here. There are many here who want to become the “second Lagerfelds,” but not everyone succeeds. A diploma from the Syndicate of Haute Couture school, like any other university, of course, does not provide any guarantees of future success.

Karl Lagerfeld

Admission rules

You can enroll in a bachelor's degree program immediately after school; additional artistic training will be an advantage. However, they say that quite often they do not accept students who have not completed a design course in another educational institution. To enter you need to know French(send a certificate confirming your knowledge), provide the school with a certified certificate, diploma, portfolio and motivation letter. Only after reviewing these documents can you be invited for an interview. This package of documents is standard for all directions. But each has its own specifics. For example, to study in a program for professionals, you must be in the age category from 26 to 49 years. A year of undergraduate study costs about eleven thousand euros. You can get more detailed information about the university on the official website

An important attribute of fashion is following the new and presenting it as a value. The principle of novelty and fashionability depends not so much on the objective time of creation of an object, but on the moment of its entry into the system of selected values. Fashionable clothing items, as a rule, have direct analogues in the past. Losing its novelty, the object becomes old-fashioned in the eyes of others.

It is generally accepted that fashion is supported by two main aspirations. The first is imitation in order to adopt experience or good taste. The second is the pressure of the social system: fear of being outside society, fear of isolation, etc. According to another classification, imitation in itself is a form biological protection.

The fashion industry is supported by magazines, blogs, and specialized trend agencies.

Fashion history

Cloth

Fashion in clothing is a change in forms and patterns of clothing that occurs over relatively short periods of time. This word usage (to be dressed “in fashion”, French à la mode) dates back to the 17th century, when French court fashion became a model for all European countries. Fashion involves a combination of various elements: hairstyle, clothing items, cut, color, accessories that take part in creating a fashionable image.

Fashion in clothing is associated with the visual approximation of the body to accepted ideals and models. For example, in China, Japan and European costume were adopted different kinds deformation. In Japan, girls' foot structure was changed, limiting its growth - this was considered a sign of aristocracy. In Europe, the corset corrected the contours of the entire body. The crinoline emphasized dignity and social status. In part, the large consumption of fabric for a train or dress was an indicator of belonging to a particular class.

The understanding and identification of gender significantly influences fashion. At a certain period in some countries (for example, in India) there were and are strict regulations on the use of certain types of clothing or the use of clothing of the opposite sex.

Fashion industry

The fashion industry is a sector of the economy that includes the production and sale of goods (including services as goods), and related sectors. Throughout history, fashion in clothing has been dictated by different countries; on this moment Paris is considered the most “fashionable” city (and, therefore, the country is France), but earlier fashion was set by Italy, Spain, and, later, England. Often, primacy in matters of fashion was associated with political primacy (for example, Italy dictated fashion during the Renaissance, the heyday of city-states like Venice and Florence; since the 13th century, velvet and silk were made here). French rulers paid attention to fashion, starting with Louis XIV and ending with Napoleon III; As a result, textile production developed highly in France, and there were many skilled seamstresses.

High Fashion Syndicate

While working in sewing studio one of the Parisian manufactories, Worth married a colleague - fashion model Marie Vernet. The models of hats and dresses that Worth created for his wife began to be in demand among clients who asked for copies to be made for them. Having found a wealthy Swede companion, Worth organized his own business, which soon found itself in the sphere of interests of the French Empress Eugenie, a famous trendsetter of that era. Many aristocrats and famous women of that time, including Princess Pauline von Metternich and actress Sarah Bernard. Clients came to Worth in Paris even from Boston and New York.

Worth is known as a pioneer of new women's fashion forms, eliminating unnecessary ruffles and frills. He offered his clients a huge range of fabrics and careful, pedantic fit. Instead of allowing the client to dictate the design, Worth pioneered fashion collections by season, holding fashion shows four times a year. Clients chose models, which were then sewn from fabrics of individual choice and taking into account the size and characteristics of the figure. Worth is considered a revolutionary in the clothing business. He was the first to see an artist in a tailor, and not just a craftsman, and awarded him the rank of “couturier”.

Prerequisites for the creation of the Syndicate (from the word syndic - executive) - an organization that resembled in its functions a medieval craft corporation or workshop, were the following: protecting the copyright of couturiers from copying their models and creating collections of single exclusive models for clients who wanted to emphasize their individuality and high position in society. Only a member of the Syndicate had the right to bear the title “couturier”. To join this organization in the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries, fashion houses had to meet certain standards: carry out individual tailoring with a significant part hand stitches, which, according to Charles Worth, guaranteed the uniqueness of the model and high quality (as opposed to machine-made seams).

In the second half of the 20th century, the Syndicate became a kind of couturier Trade Union (English) Russian, which determines the status of fashion designers (members of the Syndicate, corresponding members, as well as invited members who may eventually be accepted into the Syndicate), organizes shows of collections of high fashion houses (in January and July), maintains relations with the press and the trade network to the whole world. To obtain the title Haute Couture Houses, you must have your main production and boutiques in Paris in order to be legally part of the French Department of Industry. The number of employees in the Fashion House must be at least 15. For the autumn-winter and spring-summer seasons, collections must be created twice a year: for each fashion show, 35 daytime and the same number of evening models. When making outfits, it is necessary to use manual labor. The number of machine seams should not exceed 30%. In 2001, the rules for admission to the Syndicate were slightly simplified, which allowed fashion designers such as Jean-Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler to receive the title of couturier.

Fashion and the phenomenon of the new

One of the central aspects of fashion is the phenomenon of the new. The peculiarity of this principle is the constant activation of the unfamiliar, the unknown, the not yet existing. And also - in the establishment of a new chronological principle associated with a consistent preference for the future - a principle that can probably be considered one of the markers of the New Time. In fact, the principle of the new, the expectation of the future and the priority of the non-existent are the barrier where the separation of the actual and the traditional occurs. It is believed that in in this case we can talk about the formation of two various types culture. Fashion forms the principle of the formation of new things as central. The structure of fashion and the traditional system differ in the formal principle underlying them. In traditional culture, the new is designated as a phenomenon, but is not a defining value and occupies a peripheral position in relation to other components of culture. Fashion implies a chronological sequence, focused on the formation of something constantly new. Thus, it breaks the closed sequence of traditional culture. Unlike the traditional form, which is focused on the renewal and improvement of the old, fashion is based on the superiority of the new, forming the concept of novelty.

Georg Simmel and his concept of fashion

Fashion and value system

In addition to reproducing a commercial mechanism, fashion functions as an ideological system. It implies a sequence of establishing values and ensures the recognition of certain forms and concepts as ideological dominants. One of the important areas of research into fashion as a system comes from the assumption that fashion is a form of power, and power is the ability to establish values. Many authors, including Barthes, Baudrillard, Foucault, Deleuze, identify fashion as an axiological form focused on the model of value formation.

Notes

In related projects

Vasilyeva E. The phenomenon of fashion photography: regulations of mythological systems / International Journal of Cultural Research, No. 1 (26), 2017, p. 163-169
The essence and influence of fashion// . - Prague: Artia, 1966.
Lyudmila Kibalova, Olga Gerbenova, Milena Lamarova. Ancient Egypt(3000 BC - 200 AD)// Illustrated encyclopedia of fashion. - Prague: Artia, 1966.
Laver J. Costume and Fashion: A Concise History (1968). London: Thames & Hudson, 2003. - 304 p.
Vasilyeva E. The system of traditional and the principle of fashion / Fashion theory: body, clothing, culture, No. 43, spring 2017, p. 1-18
Diana de Marly, Worth Father of Haute Couture. Elm Tree Books, London, 1980 ISBN 0-241-10304-5, page 2.
Jacqueline C. Kent (2003). Business Builders in Fashion - Charles Frederick Worth - The Father of Haute Couture The Oliver Press, Inc., 2003
Claire B. Shaeffer (2001). Couture sewing techniques “Originating in mid-19th-century Paris with the designs of an Englishman named Charles Frederick Worth, haute couture represents an archaic tradition of creating garments by hand with painstaking care and precision.” Taunton Press, 2001
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High fashion owes its appearance to the English fashion designer Charles Frederick Worth, who in 1858 opened his fashion house House of Worth on the Rue de la Paix in Paris in 1857 and was the first to divide clothing collections by season. In 1868 Worth created High Fashion Syndicate(French: Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne) is a Parisian organization uniting fashion houses, which still exists. She united the salons in which the highest circles of society dressed into a single organization. High fashion is born - Haute couture.

Worth, Charles Frederick

While working in a sewing studio of one of the Parisian manufactories, Worth married a fellow worker, fashion model Marie Vernet. The models of hats and dresses that Worth created for his wife began to be in demand among clients who asked for copies to be made for them. Having found a wealthy Swede companion, Worth organized his own business, which soon turned out to be in the sphere of interests of the French Empress Eugenie, a famous trendsetter of that era. Many aristocrats and famous women of the time became clients of the first Haute Couture House, including Princess Pauline von Metternich and actress Sarah Bernhardt. Clients came to Worth in Paris from as far away as Boston and New York.

Charles Worth was apparently prompted to this decision by two reasons: on the one hand, the desire to protect famous tailors from copying them

Ribbon with the name Worth

models by ordinary tailors (since the Syndicate protects the copyrights of its members); on the other hand, to offer customers exclusive models that would distinguish them from ordinary bourgeois.

In the 19th century, fashion arose in the upper classes, which, with the help of new fashionable designs, emphasized their difference from the lower classes. But since all class restrictions are abolished in bourgeois society, the middle and then lower classes can imitate the fashion of the elite. Striving

to indicate their high social status, the upper classes again adopted new models - the masses again copied the fashion of the elite. And so on endlessly.

At the end of the 19th century, German sociologist Georg Simmel explained these mechanisms of the emergence and functioning of fashion in an “elite theory” of fashion (dubbed the “trickle-down effect”).

Charles Worth felt the need of the highest circles of society for exclusive fashion. The idea of high fashion provided precisely this need. Charles Worth began to put his name

Worth's Evening Toilet

on models (as an artist signs his works) - the name of the couturier acquired value as a guarantee of high quality, and then as a sign of high social status. Essentially, the licensing system, which actively developed in the second half of the 20th century, was based precisely on this label with the name of the tailor or the name of the atelier, which, following Worth, other couturiers and high-class tailors in all countries began to sew onto their models.

Marie Vernet-Worth. wife and first fashion model.

Worth was the first to sign models with his own name and made it a rule to present every year new collection. He is considered the inventor of fashion shows, and his wife is considered the first fashion model. It was Worth who came up with the familiar shape of the mannequin. Before anyone else, he began to replicate fashion - he sold models so that they could be copied. He deliberately introduced into fashion those fabrics whose production he considered necessary. In other words, he truly began to use the mechanism of the origin and spread of fashion.