The Couture shows, 17 in total for Spring 2014, were held in Paris from January 19, 2014 through January 23, 2014. It must be SO much fun to create a couture collection. The models seem to be real life White Barbie Dolls: peplums, drapings, sashes and bows anything goes. The lack of detail or otherwise the enlarged detailing: yards of rich fabric pulled through yet another yard of embellished cloth. Just like one has to do when making tiny Barbie Doll clothes. With that in mind; flashy in-your-face-materials are very important because of the fact that their exclusivity is not to be missed: lace, glass-fibre, brocade, fur, feathers are perfect to start with. The extreme opposite is the next step, as seen at Christian Dior and Viktor & Rolf. They made use of high-tech, ultra flat and paper thin, muted materials to create a very quiet, almost naked (not nude) look. The choice of colors: black, gold, white, pink and pastel, all traditional and catering to the taste of the average women (customer or not). For both colors and fabrics anything shimmering goes; just as long as it’s useful to make the Princess Dreamworld come to life.

At Sciaparelli the Vintage Barbie Doll feeling was enlarged because of the retro fifties outfits and because this show seemed like a fashion-history-lesson in a nutshell. (which also can be done with barbie dolls but that’s an other story). Mr Lagerfeld put emphasis on the waist-line at Chanel. He also created a roller skating barbie doll, including accessories: a little pouch and knee protectors trimmed with silver, cute! The designs of Viktor & Rolf and at Maison Martin Margiela tell a different story than the Princess one: We can imagine they always tried out markers and scissors on their dolls when they were young: Both couture houses hid the faces of the models and used Tattoo-inspired images.

(all catwalk images are from style.com)

What is Haute Couture?  Haute Couture: refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is fashion that is constructed by hand, without the use of machines from start to finish, made from high quality, expensive, often unusual fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques. A Haute Couture garment is often made for a client, tailored specifically for the wearer’s measurements and body stance.Considering the amount of time, money, and skill that is allotted to each completed piece, Haute Couture garments are also described as having no price tag – in other words, budget is not relevant. Each couture piece is not made to sell. Rather, they were designed and constructed for the runway, much like an art exhibition. In France, the term Haute Couture is protected by law and is defined by the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Paris based in Paris, France.