Meticulous Customization and Near-Perfect Ready-To-Wear Are the Two Prime Trends in Fashion Industry
It is common to come across Ready-to-wear (or Prêt-à-Porter) and customized clothing (or haute couture) whenever the discussion turns to fashion wear. These terms are casually spoken by designers and laymen alike, but they have specific meanings and point to particular clothing types.
These two terms do not just point to two ways clothes are crafted, but they also indicate two types of customers. Some prefer the ease and convenience of ready-to-wear, while others will go for haute couture or specially customized dresses any day. These two prime trends are so innate and essential in the fashion world that most high-end designers now deal in both ready-to-wear and customized clothing.
If you are interested in the latest trends in the clothing industry, here goes a detail of these two types:
Ready-to-wear (or Prêt-à-Porter)
Ready-to-wear denotes the standard fashion or the trend followed by most. Catering to the general public’s needs, ready-to-wear is done in standard sizes. Ready-to-wear is produced in massive quantities in factories, and it’s styled and sized to fit most people. It is neither unique nor specific, on the contrary, ready-to-wear is available to a wide variety of users. International brands’ ready-to-wear is available all over the world.
The ready-to-wear lines are mass-produced, but they are designer pieces nonetheless. The fact that they are commonly available doesn’t mean they are low quality. Pret-a-porter is produced according to standard sizes and fits users without requiring any alterations. One can say that a Prêt-à-Porter line is a designer collection for the mass population.
Apart from size, the design itself sets these two types apart. The ready-to-wear clothes are created with general trends in mind. They usually depict the prominent clothing trends of the times, approved in general. Nothing extraordinary or over the top type, but beautiful and pleasant.
The pricing of the two is poles apart. Size and designs differentiate between ready-to-wear and customized clothing, but prices explain the difference in the most explicit terms. While ready-to-wear clothes match the public’s purchasing power, the haute couture is priced extraordinarily high. It can be several times the price of a piece from a ready-to-wear line. This is because haute couture customers belong to the top tier and can definitely afford this.
Haute couture (Customized clothing)
Do you marvel at the obscurity of the clothes showcased in high fashion shows? Everyone does! At least, a common person cannot help but gape at the obscurity of the dresses shown in those shows! They seem so non-practical and exaggerated; they seem to belong to another planet and another world. In short, they don’t make sense to most people around us. This is haute couture or customized clothing!
Haute couture simply means “high fashion.” It says it all in the name itself. Haute couture is not for common people, and it is not crafted according to the common fashion.
Like ready-to-wear, haute couture, or customized clothing is a designer collection, but it is not stitched in great numbers or standard sizes. Every piece is customized and is unique in its kind, style, and size. Usually, the designer will stitch a couture piece according to a particular customer’s body shape and size.
Couture pieces do not depict everyday fashion but mirror a designer’s deep artistic and aesthetic sense. They are exaggerated forms of fashion. Couture clothing is crafted with meticulous and incredible detail, perfection, and uniqueness. There is nothing ordinary about them. This is one reason they fail to attract the general public.
Customized clothes are created for a few; they are made on order. Designers let their creativity and imagination roam free when it comes to haute couture. They know their customers are different from ordinary people, and this knowledge gives them the confidence to do things out of the box.
The couture prices are sky-high, and only the very rich can afford high-end couture pieces. They are created with extraordinary material; precious gems and expensive metals are commonly seen embedded in couture pieces. The most delicate details mark couture clothing. It takes around 300 hours for one piece to reach its culmination, which is several times more than a ready-to-wear piece.
Ready-to-wear and haute couture are two ways clothes are crafted in the fashion industry. Both types are designer collections, but that’s the only common thing in them. They are different in everything else. Ready-to-wear is created for the mass population, while haute couture is specialized clothing stitched for a particular few.
