Basic fashion knowledge that any fashionista must know
Discover the operating rules of the billion-dollar, sumptuous, frivolous economic sector on the planet.
In the fashion movie “The Devil wears Prada” – the film that swept dozens of the world film awards in 2006 – the character Miranda, the editor-in-chief of the famous fashion newspaper Runway, once gave an impressive speech about the extremely blue cashmere sweater of her assistant Andy. “Is green merely … green?” It is a green color created by talented designers, transformed into hundreds of haughty designs that create the trend of countless prestigious fashion houses, simplified through popular brands and then introduced into the mass market. A simple green but also a billion-dollar market. That is the way fashion works.
Every year, the fashionistas admire and sobbing when they see the talented fashion collections of famous fashion houses such as Dior, Chanel, Gucci … through cult fashion shows in the couture capital of fashion, and then the trends from there will last until next year. So how are high-end fashion shows – which showcases masterpieces of art – organized, and what kind of shows are there?
The capital of magnificent fashion
The four major fashion capitals, also known as the “four capital capitals” of high fashion circles, are New York, London, Milan and Paris. New York is the place where the “oldest” developed the biggest fashion week (1903), followed by Paris (1945), Milan (1958) and finally London (1984). Every year, every week of fashion, these are the places for hundreds of high-end brands as well as the press and luxury fashion enthusiasts around the world. In addition, up to now, many other locations in the world have gradually organized fashion weeks such as Seoul (Korea), Copenhagen (Denmark), Toronto (Canada) …
Colorful street style in the fashion capital of Paris 2016,
The main fashion seasons: Spring / Summer and Fall / Winter
You will probably find it quite familiar to hear about fashion seasons such as Spring / Summer (Spring Summer) or Autumn / Winter (Autumn Winter). The main fashion seasons for women are set in detail, Spring Summer in September, October and Winter-Autumn in February and March. The reason for such an early date is because after every fashion week, as trends have spread widely, brands will go into production of products and ship them to retailers as well as individual orders around the world (buyer). In other words, the fashion shows are held early so that brands can timely produce goods to meet the demand in the right season. The order of these women’s fashion weeks is held in turn: New York, London, Milan and Paris.
Designs from Chanel Fall-Winter 2016 fashions with typical tweed fabric.
In addition to the women’s fashion seasons, there are also male fashion seasons, held in January and June, July in the order of London, Milan, Paris, New York. However, in 2016, a number of famous fashion houses have “killed” their male fashion show to cut costs (average $ 1 million / show), such as Burberry fashion house. This move is also responded by many other fashion houses such as Calvin and Klein, Bottega Veneta … Besides, Gucci and Tommy Hilfiger also announced that they will end their male fashion show in 2017. The end of the show. Men’s fashion is considered to integrate with the trend of “non-gender” which is gradually ascending the throne of the world fashion scene, helping designers to bring a global view to fashion trends when combined both fashion shows for men and women.
Inter-season / Transeason fashion shows
Resort / Cruise
Besides the two main fashion seasons, fashion houses also have an extra fashion season such as Resort, also known as Cruise, which is a high-end fashion show. There is only one Cruise season per year around May or June. The products in the Resort collection are for vacations, often in bright colors and soaring materials. The resort’s customers are usually rich men and women who have finished shopping for fashion for autumn and winter and now what they are looking for is the costumes for vacations to warm places in winter. But that is just theory, so far, Cruise collections are no longer just for vacations, but for the needs of anyone’s dress, during the sale of the collection, from October to February.
Chanel Resort 2017 designs are colorful, soaring with the impressive slogan printed on the shirt “Coco Cuba”.
The most high-end brands such as Dior, Chanel, Marc Jacobs … are the permanent faces of the luxurious Cruise seasons. This is also an opportunity for fashion and cultural interference, boosting the economy by millions of dollars, because fashion houses often organize Cruise seasons in extremely new locations. For example, Chanel’s Cruise 2017 collection was held in Cuba after the US lifted the embargo, which made a big deal, earning millions of dollars in tourism and service for the land on the Caribbean coast.
The lively atmosphere and colorful images of Chanel in Chanel Resort 2017 show in Cuba.
Pre-fall
Early Autumn is a fashion show combining the spirit of both Spring / Summer and Autumn / Winter collections, held in the late summer. The early collections are usually not as heavy in performance as the designs in the main season shows. They are a fusion of men’s fashion, haute couture (will be discussed below) and ready-to-wear collections. Early fall is the crystallization of the fashion of the whole year, bringing the soul and form of Spring / Summer fashion but also predictive for the Fall / Winter designs.
Pre-fall is the crystallization of the fashion of the whole year, bringing the soul and form of Spring / Summer fashion but also predictive for the Fall / Winter designs.
Application fashion: Ready-to-wear
These are the shows that are organized twice a year with applied collections, for the majority of the mass market, but still ensuring the depth, trend and beauty of the designer. The cost of ready-to-wear designs is also lower than for pre-fall and main seasons. However, due to the limited quantity produced, the prices for Ready-to-wear products are still quite expensive. Some mid-range brands often have Ready-to-wear application designs that inherit the inspiration and trends created by more advanced brands.
The designs with high applicability but still ensure the trendy fashion from Louis Vuitton brand.
High fashion: Haute couture
The most inspiring, sophisticated and luxurious in the fashion world are Haute couture collections that fascinate people. Graceful evening dresses with elaborate embroidery, studded gemstones, luxurious feathers, just for display, performance or appearance in major events are what we can relate to. Think about the Haute couture collection. In French, “Haute” means high, “Couture” is tailor-made, “Haute couture” is a collection of high-class hand-made entirely by meticulous craftsmen in France. Haute couture collections are the means for the oldest, discerning, economically powerful and top-notch brands to affirm the value and showcasing unlimited creativity and sophisticated tailoring.
But not all designer brands can make Haute couture collections, because to be recognized as Haute Couture, designers must follow strict laws like having a craft sewing factory with at least 20 artisans in France, only follow the orders of individual customers and each year must show the fashion collection with at least 35 designs including daytime wear as well as evening dresses.
Graceful evening dresses with elaborate embroidery, studded gemstones, luxurious luxurious feathers, just for display, performance or appearance in major events are what we can relate to when we think about the Haute couture collection.
On average, each Haute couture outfit takes at least 600 hours to make, and because of that, the price for these outfits is “utopian”. A day-wear Haute couture set starts at $ 10,000 (200 million VND), while elaborate gemstone gala dresses can be in the hundreds, thousands, even millions of dollars. So, who will pay for these quintessential but heavenly art products? Those are the ladies, the high-class ladies, the stars in the entertainment industry across the globe. The identity of customers who order Haute Couture is extremely confidential, but it is also easy to see these lavish outfits on the red carpet of big events such as world film festivals, Met Gala … This splendid outfit makes us sobbing at the elaborate craftsmanship of the skilled workers, admiring the boundless creativity and inspiration, nurturing unlimited fashion passions.
