The ELLE girl's guide to couture

To mark the start of Couture week in Paris, this week's Need To Know is all about fashion's most skilled and highly regarded art.

Haute Couture - literally translated means 'high sewing' - and is widely believed to have been founded by an Englishman living in Paris during the 19th century. Charles Frederick Worth designed for Emperor Napoleon III and championed the use of luxurious fabrics and intricate detailing, he took his inspiration from The National Gallery in London, combining fashion, art and costume making.

His legacy of fine tailoring established Haute Couture as an art form in Paris with fashion houses such as Balenciaga, Chanel and Schiaparelli all producing custom made, bespoke garments for private clients up until the German occupation of Paris during World War II - when fabrics and funds became so limited, couture production stopped.

Couture as we know it today exploded onto the fashion scene in 1947, when a young designer named Christian Dior presented his new vision for the post-war women. His 'New Look' became an instant international success, as did the idea of the previously exclusive and very private couture houses opening their doors to the world.

With Dior's couture revolution came the new rules, set by the Chambre Syndicale de la Houte Couture in Paris. For a garment to be considered couture it must be made to order for a private client, after more than one fitting; and for a label to be considered a couture house it must show couture designs twice a year during couture week and have an atelier (workshop) that employs at least fifteen people.

Today couture has come to represent the height of fashion creation, producing some of the most visionary fashion designs from the most renowned names in the business - Karl Largerfeld at Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier and the other Englishman working in Paris, John Galliano at Christian Dior.

Whilst it remains out of reach for almost everyone (not many have the budget or the occassion for a £50,000 dress made entirely of feathers), couture continues to be an important part of many design houses, especially couture week - when Paris sees it most avant-garde parties and also hints towards what we can expect from their ready-to wear shows just a few months later.

We may not always be able to understand it and we may never get to wear it, but the spectacle of couture is something not to be missed.