By Rachel Gorman-Cooper
To appreciate not-for-sale fashion, one has to distinguish the many types of clothing within the category. There is no better way to do this than to learn the necessary jargon- including but not limited to “Haute Couture,” “Ready-to-Wear,” and “High Fashion.” Bear with me, and we will learn the categories together.
First thing’s first: “High Fashion” is an umbrella term for all fashion that is over-the-top, fancy, or impractical. Within this category lie the “Haute Couture” and “Ready-to-Wear” categories. Let’s start with Haute Couture. Haute Couture directly translates to high sewing, meaning Haute Couture garments are tailor-made for those who wear them, however much of the time they are just time-intensive, widely fitting, fancy clothes. This is what makes Haute Couture items too pricey- clothes that fit your unique shape are cumbersome to make, and rare to find in mass production.
On the other hand, “Pret-a-Porter,” or Ready-to-Wear, refers to clothing that is, well, ready to be worn: clothing sold in high-end boutiques or designer clothing that is sold (but not quite purchasable in terms of pricing.)
Because Ready-to-Wear clothing is a distinct category from Haute Couture, one may assume that some Haute Couture items are not ready to wear, and vice versa. However, each dip their toes into the other.
“Collections” are almost strictly limited to Haute Couture because they are not sold in stores, nor are they made for everybody. My column mostly discusses collection items, since they value making statements over serving practical purposes.
Are you confused yet? I am- Haute Couture is narrow in linguistic definition but broad in its use throughout the fashion designer community. And Ready-To-Wear is broad in its linguistic definition but narrow in its use throughout the fashion designer community. Sit with the discomfort, and you’ll find that you can easily identify categories in no time.
