The details always make the difference…

…and it’s the details that make haute-couture so spectacular. It’s exactly those tens of hours of handmade work that bring out what the world calls the best of fashion.

If you would ask me, sometimes these collections bring out the best of what a particular designer has to offer and sometimes it just brings out the strangest like “I wouldn’t wear it if they would give it for free” type of outfits. But haute-couture is many times about the show, and not about beautiful wearable clothes.

In case you were wondering what haute-couture is all about, well, it’s fashion constructed entirely by hand, using the best & the most expensive fabrics, sewn with incredible attention to details and  finished in tens or hundreds of hours  by an army of the most experienced sewers. Now, maybe the question “why?” comes to your mind (why put so much work into a piece of clothing that most of the times won’t even be worn)… Simple, just for the love of fashion! :)) That, and the fact that it means a certain fashion house is a part of an elite group, and that is translated into more sales on the pret-a-porter collections or accessories, jewels, perfumes etc. It’s just for brand image, because as so often we have witnessed, the brand is what’s important, not the product.

There are just a few fashion houses that are a part of this group, as there are some requirements that must be met. The list of haute-couture labels is drawn up each year by a commission called the chambre syndicale de la haute couture, in Paris, the capital of haute-couture. In France, the term haute-couture is actually protected by law and defined by the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Paris . The French really care about their fashion…

I always take a look on haute-couture collections and again, in my opinion, except for the handmade work and probably the high costs of every piece, some of them have nothing to do with what haute-couture should mean.

But the ones that do, show amazing craftsman skills, dedication, vision and talent. You can’t really not appreciate them…

My selection is from the spring/summer and autumn/winter 2015 collections (click on photos):

Armani Prive fall ’15

Armani Prive fall ’15

Dior fall ’15

Ellie Saab fall 15

Fendi fall ’15

Fendi fall ’15

Maison Margiela fall ’15

Zuhair Murad fall ’15

Zuhair Murad fall ’15

Zuhair Murad Fall ’15

Zuhair Murad Fall ’15

Giambattista Valli fall ’15

Versace Fall ’15

Alberta Ferretti fall ’15

Alexandre Vauthier fall ’15

Alexandre Vauthier fall ’15

Alexis Mabille fall ’15

Alexis Mabille fall ’15

Elie Saab fall ’15

Elie Saab fall ’15

Schiaparelli fall ’15

Valentino fall ’15

Schiaparell fall ’15

Valentino fall ’15

Schiaparelli fall ’15

J P Gaultier ss ’15

Armani Prive ss ’15

Ellie Saab ss ’15

J P Gaultier ss ’15

Schiaparelli ss ’15

Schiaparelli ss ’15

Schiaparelli ss ’15

Valentino ss ’15

Giabattista Valli ss ’15

Giabattista Valli ss ’15

Giabattista Valli ss ’15

Versace ss 15

Versace ss ’15

Zuhair Murad ss ’15

Zuhair Murad ss ’15

Zuhair Murad ss ’15

Photos: Style.com

Which one did you like the most?

Kisses,

Gia