From the Victoria and Albert Museum: "Join dressmaking expert Sue Clark as she examines a luxurious, sparkly CHANEL trouser suit, made in 1937 – 38 for American Fashion Magazine Editor, Diana Vreeland.
From the Victoria and Albert Museum: "Join dressmaking expert Sue Clark as she takes a close-up look at an elegant CHANEL suit, made in 1959 for actress Lauren Bacall. Comprised of a rose-pink tweed skirt and jacket paired with a delicate silk blouse, the pieces were made exactly to fit Bacall's measurements and have been finished to the very highest standard."
From Christian Dior: "Filmmaker Mélinda Triana traces the making of the Dior Spring-Summer 2023 Haute Couture show. The behind-the-scenes mini documentary opens with Maria Grazia Chiuri who presents the collection’s starting point, archive images of Josephine Baker dressed in Dior, and heads into the Ateliers, revealing the savoir-faire behind the looks. It wraps with artist Mickalene Thomas who shares the story behind the set, composed of giant portraits of iconic personalities symbolizing a new pantheon of women."
Charles Frederick Worth was an English fashion designer who founded the House of Worth, one of the foremost fashion houses of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Considered by many fashion historians to be the father of haute couture, he first used models to "sell" his clothes and added labels to his work. If you were a Gilded Age lady of society, you would certainly have one of his designs.
What goes into making a fabric? Sometimes it can be made in an instant when it is digitally printed, other times it can take many, many hours. This video is an example of the latter where "this plaid textile has been laboriously handwoven by Aurélia Leblanc in her Paris atelier on a vast warp with an 800-yarn weft repeat in over 40 colors of linen, cotton, raffia and dyed silk ribbons." The textile was made as part of the Dior Autumn-Winter 2022-2023 Haute Couture collection by Maria Grazia Chiuri.
You might be as surprised as some of the students from the London College of Fashion as to what goes on inside a Haute Couture gown. These students were invited to investigate iconic garments by Cristóbal Balenciaga, "The Master" of haute couture, and "deconstructed his processes and revealed secrets of the making and construction using digital pattern-cutting technology." Enjoy the video from the Victoria and Albert Museum.
From CNA: "You won’t hear the sound of sewing machines at the Chanel atelier, or workshop, because everything is done by hand. Find out what else goes into creating these special, haute couture pieces."
With just a bit of ribbon and a few pleats, you too could create one of these Dior outfits. Or could you? Take a look at the making of Dior Haute Couture Dress and decide for yourself.
When you think of Paris, many things come to mind. Food, art, love, and so many others. But one of the standouts has got to be fashion. Home to some of the biggest design houses in the world, including Chanel and Dior, Paris has so much to offer when it comes to the clothing industry. Go behind the scenes of the workshops of designers Stéphane Rolland and Jean-Paul Gaultier as they take you on a fantastic fashion tour of their Haute Couture Workshops in Paris.
"One of the Paris embroidery specialists that worked on the Dior Autumn-Winter 2021-2022 Haute Couture collection by Maria Grazia Chiuri, Maison Vermont offers a look at the creation of a fabric inspired by an archival sample that’s being recreated with lace appliqués, meandering vermicelli embroidery and tiny crystal sparkles to subtly lift the final effect." - Dior
Last week we showed you two amazing Christmas dolls created by Nigel Chia. Here he is handcrafting a DeMuse New Year's Doll...with very little, tiny beads, and itty bitty lace ribbon.
If you think making haute couture dresses take a long time for humans, how about shrinking those dresses down to doll size? In this video, watch as Malaysian fashion designer, Nigel Chia, creates two stunning ball gowns for Demuse dolls especially for Christmas.
"It took 1054 hours of work to make the sublime Haute Couture dress that Kristen Stewart wears as Princess Diana in “Spencer”, Pablo Larraín's highly anticipated new biopic." - Vogue.com
If you have ever had that question, this video will show you why. These extraordinary couture clothes by Chanel are handmade perfection. They literally "create" the fabric bit by bit, piece by piece, feather by feather. It's fascinating to watch and you'll even notice a nod to a couple of different quilt blocks.
Take your front-row seat to watch the unveiling of the Dior Autumn-Winter 2021-2022 Haute Couture collection by Maria Grazia Chiuri live from Paris. While the clothes are always interesting and beautifully made, we were fascinated by the backdrop of the show. Was it quilted? Was it embroidered?After taking a closer look, we believe it was entirely embroidered...but we could be wrong. Take a look.
Would you spend 130 hours making a jacket? Would you spend the money to have the jacket made in 130 hours? See what it takes to put together a Chanel jacket by hand.
For this Dior Haute Couture Couture Spring-Summer 2021 evening dress by Maria Grazia Chiuri, the specialist Jean-Pierre Ollier was called on to recreate an 18th-century découpage technique known as 'lacca povera'.