RR331 Fall 2019 Couture black velvet, duchess satin, and gazar Inquisition Infanta, zimbio.com
Couture week kicked off in Paris on July 7 with Schiaparelli at 10 am and ended on July 10 with Kevin Germanier at 5:30 pm. Among the 27 shows, there was Demna’s austere, stripped-down, final haute couture collection for Balenciaga; fabulous down to the casting, and a gorgeous Armani collection done almost entirely in noir. Awaiting the arrival of Matthieu Blazy, Chanel still looked better (younger, hipper, more defined) than it had in many seasons.
Stéphane Rolland’s dramatic Fall-Winter 2025 collection, set to the rhythm of Maurice Ravel’s “Le Bolero”, had me thinking, “Gianfranco Ferre on steroids”. I always wonder why Vogue.com never covers this collection.
Balenciaga Fall 2025 Couture, Illustration, The Cut, Photo courtesy of Balenciaga
Along with Balenciaga, one of the most highly anticipated shows was Glenn Martens’ debut for Maison Margiela. The Belgian-born designer promised it would be significant and “quite loud”. Indeed, with its decayed decadence, goth aesthetic, incorporation of recycling, and mind-blowing fabric techniques, it did not disappoint.
Schiaparelli Fall 2025 Couture, Photo courtesy of Schiaparelli
Assuredly, one of the true artistic highlights of the week was Daniel Roseberry’s “Back to the Future” collection for Schiaparelli—no tricks, no gimmicks, just straight up couture and a quiet confidence on display.
What makes it all the more remarkable is that the Texas-born designer didn’t train in couture but ready-to-wear, and he learned along the way. Before Schiaparelli, Roseberry had a decade-long tenure at Thom Browne, where he rose to become the head of design for both men’s and women’s collections.
Not counting Roseberry, who designs for a French House, there were no Americans on the couture week schedule. Why are there so few American designers entering the world of haute couture? Indeed, it’s not for lack of talent.
Gloria Vanderbilt wearing Mainbocher, Photograph by Richard Avedon, Harper’s Bazaar, March 1955
Thom Browne believes that this fusion is not only special but also crucial in representing American fashion. The last American designer to officially show couture, Thom follows a lineage that includes Ralph Rucci and Mainbocher, who rose to prominence in the 30s creating designs that were “costly, built to last, and trend free,” according to Vogue, 1932. This historical context provides a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities in American couture.
This is not couture, and it’s not fashion, Pyer Moss Fall 2021 Couture, vogue.com
Back in July 2021, Kerby Jean-Raymond made history as the first Black fashion designer to win a coveted spot on the Paris Couture Week Calendar in the Chambre Syndicale’s 150-year-plus history. The show, “What U Iz”, was not held in the City of Lights; instead, it was shown in Irvington, New York, the estate of Madam C.J. Walker, a descendant of enslaved people and the 1st American woman to become a self-made millionaire. Despite the obvious symbolism, it was a fashion disaster.
Few American designers currently do haute couture primarily because the American fashion system has historically prioritized ready-to-wear and sportswear. Moreover, the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in Paris strictly defines and regulates the term haute couture, with specific criteria that are challenging for most American designers to meet.
Requirements include having a Paris-based workshop with a minimum number of employees and presenting collections twice yearly to a Parisian audience, which makes it difficult for designers outside of this established structure to qualify.
RR331 Fall 2019 Couture, Photo by Dominique Maitre for WWD
Of course, a designer can be invited as a guest member. However, the cost is prohibitive and it’s getting more so each season, says Ralph Rucci, who, in 2002, became the first American designer in more than 60 years invited to show in Paris by the French Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Following the invitation, Rucci showed his Haute Couture collection in the French capital for five seasons.
“The métier of couture is a proud one in France. In the US, sewing is not looked upon as a high art” – Ralph Rucci
Nowadays, ready-to-wear houses are barely surviving, observes Rucci. The young designers don’t care about artistry, and many are looking towards Europe for direction. In New York, we don’t have workers trained in the métier of couture. In Paris, where couture is born, young people apply to it.
Models posing in the Sexy Slink from Halston’s Fall 1981 Made-to-Order Collection, Fairchild Archives-Penske Media
Rucci is working on a fall 2025 Haute Couture collection and plans to be in Paris in January for the spring Haute Couture shows. Ralph trained under the legendary Salvatore Cardello, who ran Halston’s workroom and who trained as a young boy at Balenciaga. Let’s not forget that Halston launched a couture line alongside his ready-to-wear in the 70’s.
Alva Chinn wearing a cashmere ensemble from Halston’s fall 1977 Made-to-Order Collection, Fairchild Archives – Penske Media
While not strictly ‘Haute Couture’ in the traditional French sense, Halston’s ‘Made-to-Order’ line, as it was called, embodied a distinctly American version of elevated, accessible luxury. This unique approach showcases the potential of American designers in the couture industry.
Ralph Rucci’s apartment & deluxe showroom, Photo by Pieter Estersohn
It’s impossible to have a couture industry in New York with only a handful of couture workrooms, says Ralph, who has three satellite workrooms in town. And to ensure his couture clients enjoy a “warm and inviting” atmosphere, Ralph recently renovated his ultra-chic mirrored penthouse apartment on the Upper East Side, which doubles as a deluxe showroom.
Rucci’s apartment was the cover story in the February 2025 issue of The World of Interiors, where Hamish Bowles is Creative Director-at-Large. Bowles stepped down as Editor-in-Chief in 2024.
Thom Browne Couture Fall 2023, thombrowne.com
Thom Browne has a Made to Measure Atelier in New York and one in Paris, located at 17 Avenue Montaigne. Gilles Mendel, who founded the House of Gilles in 2023, also has a couture atelier in New York.
Actress Nina Dobrev wearing House of Gilles Haute Couture onyx silk double satin duchess gown, Photography @emmabeiles
A CFDA member since 2003, Gilles received the prestigious Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Achievement in American Design in 2011, and he became a member of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode in 2016.
There are a few other ateliers in New York that create “high-end custom fitting clothing from start to finish with extreme attention to detail and finish, often using time-consuming hand-executed techniques,” a dictionary definition of haute couture. Christy Rilling, the subject of a past article, is one of them.
Christy launched Guild of Hands, an atelier in the heart of Manhattan’s garment district where clothes are designed, developed, and made by a talented group of artisans, in March 2023. Before that, Christy Rilling Atelier, a made-to-order atelier, opened its doors in the NYC garment district in 2010.
“Women who can pay couture prices in New York want the total Paris Couture experience.” Ralph Rucci
But there’s something even more fundamental, says Rucci. If you have the money to buy couture, you want the couture experience from beginning to end. It’s all about the participation in Couture Week, where customers are treated like royalty and they feel the privilege of exclusivity.
They stay at the Ritz, the Hotel Plaza Athénée, and the Hotel Crillon. They attend the shows, they go to lunches and dinners, and visit the couture ateliers. It’s an entire experience of luxury from beginning to end.
Amy Fine Collins, Thom Browne, and Marisa Berenson in Paris for Thom’s Fall 2023 Couture show
Amy Fine Collins thinks that today’s consumers lack the fundamental knowledge or discernment they used to have about the craftsmanship and the quality of clothing – how seams are finished, what the “hand” of a fabric should feel like, ho sleeves are set in, etc. — so they demand less from a designer-label garment.
“We are still the land of sportswear and instant gratification, so I am not sure how many women or men have the luxury of time required for multiple fittings” – Amy Fine Collins
However, Amy thinks that Couture (not a strictly defined “Haute Couture”), but “Couture” in terms of made-to-measure clothes at a very elevated level, should exist here, given the amount of money there is out there now, and the constant crop of eager young designers coming up. Amy cites Geoffrey Beene, John Anthony, and Norman Norell as designers who had made-to-order divisions within their companies.
When I mention the idea of having a Couture Week in NY, Amy agrees it sounds like a “fun, novel, engaging idea— the last word in slow fashion, here in the capital of the world, where anything is possible!”
