The Polyglot

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

How They Wear it: Becca Cason Thrash

Like her fellow Texan Lynn Wyatt, Becca Cason Thrash has built her reputation as a socialite and philanthropist on her passion for fashion and spectacle. She is often featured in Houston’s social columns and the New York Times even once dubbed her “the next Lynn Wyatt.”

Thrash once worked for a public relations firm where her clients included a number of Saudi Arabian oil magnates. She was also the publicist for Tootsies, a pricey Houston boutique, when she married Dr. John Thrash, the multimillionaire chief executive officer of the Texas energy company eCorp. Today they live in a sprawling glass mansion filled with an enviable collection of modern art as well as a glass-ceilinged kitchen with a party room above.

When Becca Cason Thrash throws a party it is no less impressive. At a recent black tie event she gave benefiting the American Friends of the Louvre, guests flew in from Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., New York, Toronto, Paris, and all over Texas to raise funds in her spectacular 20,000-square-foot, glass-walled home. The highlight of the evening was the re-creation of Christian Lacroix’s Haute Couture show, shown only the month before, which was presented on a mirrored runway built on top of the Tharsh’s indoor swimming pool.

In the last couple of years she has also gained a reputation as an haute couture connoisseur with a small collection that she has been gradually building up over the last few of seasons. Treating her purchases like the works of art that she and her husband acquire, her collection includes pieces by Gaultier, Christian Dior, Christian Lacroix, and the American Ralph Rucci.

Unlike many couture customers, Thrash rarely wear’s a designer’s creations from head to toe, but tends to mix pieces from different seasons to create a distinct look. It is this way of wearing couture which informs the manner in which she purchases her pieces. When she attends the show and the couture salons twice a year she often tries to break the outfits down in her head, picking out a pair of pants or a jacket to update her existing wardrobe. In a sense Thrash sees couture as the antithesis of ready-to-wear, where clothes are often considered dated after a season. Instead she views her couture purchases as wearable works of art that gain in value over time.

Clockwise: Becca Cason Thrash in Christian Lacroix, Spring 2007; With her husband John Thrash in Ralph Rucci couture, Fall 2003; In Hanae Mori haute couture, Fall 2004; In Christian Dior couture, Fall 2005; Pictured with Christian Lacroix during Paris couture week.

How They Wear it: Nan Kempner

Diana Vreeland, the legendary editor of American Vogue, once said: "There are no chic women in America. The one exception is Nan Kempner." Mrs. Kempner, the New York socialite and international jet setter who passed away in 2005, was arguably one of couture’s most passionate collectors. Over five decades she amassed the largest private collection of haute couture clothing featuring classic designers like Mainbocher and her favorite couturier Yves Saint Laurent.

Her first couture gown was a white Dior sheath, bought in the early 1950s. She traveled to Paris twice a year for the shows, seldom absent from the St Laurent salon. She was also known for maintaining her slender frame in order to fit into couture samples, discounted at $10,000 a gown. She stored them (when the children grew up, she converted their rooms to extra closets) and "it turns out that I was an art collector. Museums come and ask me for clothes all the time". As curator of her own rails, she was elected to the fashion Hall of Fame and gave courses at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Recently both the MET and the Fondation Yves Saint Laurent in Paris held exhibits of her couture collection.

Clockwise: In Valentino Couture, Spring 2003; Photographed at a Saint Laurent fitting in the late 80’s; In Gaultier Paris, Spring 2003; Seated at Yves Saint Laurent’s show in the late 70’s; In Yves Saint Laurent haute couture; In Christian Lacroix, Fall 2004; Wearing Valentino couture, Fall 2004.

How they wear it: Catherine Deneuve

Long before the practice of lending haute couture gowns to movie stars for the red carpet, there was a time when well known stage and film actresses, opera singers, and even world famous ballerinas paid for their own clothes. Notable individuals such as Marlene Dietrich, Gloria Swanson, Maria Callas, and Margo Fontane were regular customers at the Paris couture houses and in particular Dior. It was a period when stars were required to appear glamorous and impeccable when in public, and the couture provided them with the necessary means to achieve this. Catherine Deneuve is one such movie star who is also an established couture client.

Deneuve’s love of haute couture began as a young actress in the 1960’s when she was fitted for her first gown by Yves Saint Laurent, to be presented to the queen of England. As a couture client she tends to be loyal to one designer. Throughout the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s she was fiercely loyal to Yves Saint Laurent, dressing exclusively in his clothes and never missing a single one of his shows. It was only after his retirement that she began to frequent Jean Paul Gaultier’s couture house, and today she dresses exclusively in his clothes for the red carpet.
Deneuve understood early on the power of couture and the couturier’s ability to take years off a wearer with an expertly designed dress. She frequently outshines woman half her age on the red carpet in her one of a kind Gaultier Paris creations.

Clockwise left: In Gaultier Paris, Spring 2005; In Gaultier Paris, Fall 2006; Congratulating Yves Saint Laurent backstage after one of his shows in the early 90’s; In Gaultier Paris, Spring 2007; Mademoiselle Catherine Deneuve’s seat at the Gaultier Paris show.

Paris Haute Couture’s Young Houses

Most designers will not set up their own couture house until they acquired a number of years of apprenticeship at an existing couture establishment. Even then they face the daunting challenge of meeting the Chambre Syndicale’s stringent criteria for admittance into this exclusive group. Upstart couturiers must find property for their house in Paris, as well as employ a certain number of seamstresses in two ateliers (one for dress making, the other for tailoring). There is also the question of presenting a certain number of outfits twice a year, and the cost involved in paying for materials and labor.

Within haute couture, designers in their mid-30’s and early 40’s are often considered young, as it takes years of experience to gain the level of technical knowledge and savoir faire required of an accomplished couturier. Here are examples of two emerging young couturiers on the Paris scene.

Top row: Anne Valerie Hash

Anne Valerie Hash is not only one of the youngest designers currently showing on the haute couture schedule, but a rarity in a business dominated by men. Although she’s shown her ready-to-wear collections during couture week in the past, the July 2007 season was the first time she mounted an haute couture show in the turn-of-the-century Paris synagogue which now serves as her atelier.

When the diminutive designer first launched her label five years ago, she gained a reputation for deconstructing men's suiting and reassembling them into feminine clothes for women. But over the years her style and technique have gradually evolved and this was most apparent in her recent couture collection where she presented short, sculpted mini-dresses and suits in jewel-tone satins embellished with hand-beading by the house of Lesage.

Prior to launching her own label, Hash worked for a slew of fashion houses in various capacities after graduating from Paris' prestigious Chambre Syndicale School of haute couture in 1995 (the training ground for most future couturiers). Unlike some fashion schools with curriculums focused heavily on theory and design. The Chambre Syndicale’s school is known for its intense concentration on technical knowledge, addressing a garment’s construction, fabrication, and detailing (all the hallmarks of couture). Those who graduate from this rigorous institution are able to construct a garment from start finish on their own.

"I worked in the studio at Chanel, the atelier at Christian Lacroix and Christian Dior with Gianfranco Ferre and in the press office of Karl Lagerfeld. But I was never more than three months at any one place. If you work too long for any designer you adopt their style and I didn't want that," explained Hash.

Although she began as a guest member, she was recently invited by the Chambre Syndicale to become a full member. A great accomplishment for a French designer who claims she cannot sketch (and never does), yet has managed to developed her own creative techniques through deconstructing clothes that she then drapes, pleats and rebuilds into her innovative designs.

Bottom Row: Stéphane Rolland

The Spring 2007 couture season saw the emergence of another new couture house on the Paris couture schedule. After 10 years at the helm of Jean-Louis Scherrer Haute Couture, Stéphane Rolland launched his own couture house at 10 Avenue George V.

Rolland could be considered haute couture’s wunderkind. Of French aristocratic decent, he grew up in the South of France, Argentina, and the West Indies, before settling in Paris to study at the prestigious Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. After graduating he went on to work at the house of Balenciaga. Initially hired to design menswear for the house, he was soon promoted to creative director within a year.

At 24, Rolland left Balenciaga to design his own prêt-à-porter collection in 1991. Success came immediately and in its first year of business he was stocked in 80 boutiques and department stores around the world.

Despite starting off in ready-to-wear Rolland always dreamt of practicing haute couture and his big break finally came in 1997, when he was tapped by the house of Jean-Louis Scherrer to design its haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessories lines. Thus at 30 he became the youngest couturier working on Paris’ Avenue Montaigne. Although his collections for the house seldom received press coverage or were rarely considered avant-garde, what is astounding is the that he was able to turn a profit for the house through its haute couture operations alone, attracting a large number of clients.

Rolland pointed to several factors when asked about his decision to leave Scherrer after so many successful years of designing for the house. Recently turning 40 and working in haute couture for 10 years, he felt it was time to pursue his own dreams of establishing a couture house under his name. He certainly is not lacking in customers, as many of his Middle Eastern clients from Scherrer have followed him to his new house. What is interesting is that his first couture collection under his own name also marked a departure for him stylistically (from fussy and some would say conservative clothes for “a woman of a certain age”) to a much younger, modern and streamlined proposition. In addition to couture he plans to produce a demi-couture line.

New Blood Brewing at the Paris Haute Couture

Despite the predicted demise of haute couture, the Spring 2007 season proved to be a turning point for fashion’s supposed “Dowager” who isn’t looking so old these day’s. Although the press only seems to cover a handful of the couture shows each season (most notably those of the big fashion houses), there are at least 30 names on the off calendar list of presenters, as well as a growing number of invited and newly inducted members. At the latest presentations in July the haute couture season expanded from three days to four days, with a total of 43 shows, making it a record number in recent history.

At the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture’s board meeting on October 22, 2007 several designers were given “invited member” status including: Adam Jones, Boudicca, Cathy Pill, Christophe Josse, Eymeric François, Felipe Oliveira Baptista, Gérald Watelet, Gustavo Lins, Lefranc.Ferrant, Marc Le Bihan, Nicolas Le Cauchois, On Aura Tout Vu, Richard René and Udo Edling.

Inaddition the following designers were invited to become members by the board, giving them the right to call their collections Haute Couture: Alexis Mabille, Josep Font, Stéphane Rolland, Anne Valérie Hash and Maurizio Galante.

Here are just three of couture’s rising stars:

Left: Moritzio Galante

Unlike many of the designers presenting during couture week, the Italian Maurizio Galante shows his haute couture collection once a year for both spring and fall. Also an artist and furniture designer by training, he often treats his couture pieces like works of art. Employing laser cut fabrics and the latest in Japanese textiles, he will often use labor intensive techniques such as origami pleating, antique lace and feathers for his creations. Known as well for his strong sense of color, Galante maintains the idea that couture should be unique through the use of innovative materials and craftsmanship.

Center: Riccardo Tisci

When the venerable House of Givenchy named a little-known Italian designer, Riccardo Tisci, to take over its couture ateliers in 2005, it was unclear whether he’d be able to turn the house’s fortunes around. On his first day on the job he asked to see the houses’ archives, only to be ushered into two small rooms. The first was stuffed with clothes hanging from rails, and dozens of hats in stacked boxes. While the other room contained shelves filled with press scrapbooks, fabric samples and collections look books. Hardly the type of well organized and maintained archive found at other illustrious houses such as Saint Laurent and Balenciaga.

The word “archive” has frequently been mentioned in relation to established houses. But many houses did not maintain extensive archives until fairly recently. Part of the reason for this is that space was simply unavailable and dresses that took up too much room were frequently given to the designer's friends or loaned out never to be seen again. "Archive" was frequently a catchword to denote house history rather than an actual collection of clothing and documentation.

But recently Givenchy has worked hard at revitalizing it’s archives, paying new attention to them and hiring specialists to maintain, catalogue and collect disparate elements from the past into a cohesive whole. Outside acquisitions have been necessary to supplement the rather meager traces left in-house from the couturier's 43-year reign. Despite this, in the three years he’s been at that house, Tisci has been successfully attracting a new clientele, many of whom are from the Middle East, in tune with his modern version of couture.

Right: Richard René

The French designer Richard René has a small enterprise compared to most couturiers. A modest man, who often cuts and sews many of his garments himself, he is happy to continue perfecting his craft in his tiny atelier.

He trained for three years under Claude Brouet at Hermès and seven years at Jean Paul Gaultier. His big break came in 2004 when he won the Hyères Festival award and showed for the first time under his name in January 2005.

This young designer, who has been presenting for a number of years in Paris, is steadily creating a buzz around his work, which could be described as architectural. Often cutting away extraneous materials to pare down a garment to its essence, he’s managed to attract a number of clients searching for what some have called “an outrageous faux minimalist” approach to haute couture.His is the kind of garments where construction seems to take center stage.

Paris Couture’s Unsung Masters and New Members

Left: The designer Dominique Sirop and examples of his expertly draped evening gowns that have attracted a large number of clients. Amongst them Queen Rania of Jordan, pictured here dressed in one of his creations.

Right: Setting up one’s own couture house in today’s highly competitive market is no easy feat. Emerging couturiers often find themselves wearing many hats, including sewing their own garments, while they build up their business as is the case with Stéphane Mahéas, shown working in his atelier.

Dominique Sirop

While news headlines were monopolized by the anniversary celebrations for Dior, Valentino, and Lacroix, 2007 also marked the 10th anniversary of the House of Dominique Sirop, an important milestone for a couturier who has built a successful business on his own without the help of a major conglomerate.

Although he barely receives mention by the mainstream fashion press, he is a well known and respected name within couture circles. Not only for his well executed designs, but also because he was one of the first to realize early on that the couture system itself needed to evolve to keep up with modern times.

As Sirop explained, "The big ball gown, which takes 3,000 hours to make and which has 4,000 pearls on it, is no longer in touch with reality. The future of couture is not to simply make people dream. My clients wear the clothes I make for them every day." This also applies to his price points, where as far as haute couture goes, his garments are considered surprisingly affordable. He keeps fittings to a minimum and suits go for as little as $4,000.00-$5,000.00 and evening dresses for no more than $8,000.00-$9,000.00. Indeed, Sirop sees more affordable outfits as the future of haute couture. "We are now at a turning point", he asserts.

Sirop's introduction to the world of haute couture began at an early age with his mother, who worked as a mannequin for the House of Paquin. It was through a contact of hers that he gained an apprenticeship at Yves Saint Laurent’s atelier at the age of 17; learning the craft of constructing, draping, and sewing couture garments. He stayed there for five years, rising up to the position of “premiere main qualifiee”. Yet oddly enough he never came into contact with the designer himself.

"One day, I asked to meet him to show him my work", remembers Sirop, "but my request was turned down with the words that `M. Saint Laurent does not see people who are already part of the house'." That lunchtime, he went for a stroll along Avenue George V, stopped in front of the windows of the Givenchy boutique and said to himself "After the originality of Saint Laurent, why not try the rigour of Givenchy?" He whipped up three sketches that night and by 8:00 am the next day he had been hired by the couturier. He stayed until 1989, eventually becoming director of Givenchy pret-a-porter and haute couture salons.

What is not widely known is that Sirop was Hubert de Givenchy's hand-picked choice as his successor. Although he spent 11 years at the master’s side, Bernard Arnault, the boss of LVMH who had recently acquired the label, had other ideas. He refused to even meet with Sirop, claiming that he was not famous enough, and appointed John Galliano instead.

This was the turning point in Sirop’s career. After a brief stint designing for the house of Hanae Mori, he opened his own couture house in 1996. The house, located in a dream-like alley behind the Moulin Rouge is a 19th century mansion which boasts its own mini theater.

At the time of his debut collection the International Herald Tribune's Suzy Menkes wrote, "Any conventional fashion-conscious woman would kill for these clothes. The bosses of couture houses now want wacky attention-grabbing shows, rather than client-pleasers. But Sirop's collection was a timely reminder that cut and class are still the high C's of haute couture."

Sirop’s Couture house was barely open for one year when he was invited to join the prestigious Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture as an official member. The last designer to receive this honor was Christian Lacroix 10 years before.

Furthermore, an indication of the strong bond between client and couturier was no more apparent than when former Givenchy customers began defecting to him en masse. In the three weeks following his first collection he received over 70 orders. Joan Collins asked him to design her outfit for her daughter's wedding. French actress Judith Godreche wore one of his dresses to the Oscars and top Parisian socialites like Marie-Therese Perrin and Helene David-Weill wore his creations to major social functions.

But his biggest supporter by far was the late Nan Kempner, who was so impressed with his work that she invited him to present his collection at her Park Avenue apartment to a number of her friends. Those present included Princess Firyal of Jordan and New York socialite Anne Bass.

Since January 2000, Sirop's atelier has been at 14, rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré.

Stéphane Mahéas

Every few seasons a small couture house emerges that defies ones expectations. Entirely self financed, Stephan Mahéas is one such couturier slowly building up his business and perfecting his craft. While the big houses continue to dominate headlines during couture week, Mahéas has been quietly presenting his collections over the last few seasons as an invited member.

When asked what it takes to become a couturier today, Mahéas questioned the current system at fashion schools, which seem to produce “stylists” more so than designers who understand fabric and clothing construction. To him it is essential that one understands the rules governing “flou” (dress making) and “strict” (for suiting). This knowledge is essential to becoming a couturier, as those beginning in the business will often find themselves designing, cutting, and sewing all their outfits from start to finish. He also points out that it’s imperative that one gains experience at what he calls “les grands.” Mahéas himself worked at Dior, Christian Lacroix, the plumassier Lemarié, and even the bridal department of the Parisian department store Au Bon Marché, before launching his own house.

With little or no money available to them for advertising, young and emerging designers often have to find creative ways to get their names out there. Mahéas for example, has been supplementing his couture activities with a small ready-to-wear line as well as producing a collection of sunglasses. Recently he was also tapped by the house of Jean Patou (which closed its couture division) to create a dress that would be a tangible image of its new perfume “Sira des Indes.” The one of a kind dress was later sold at auction to benefit the Refugee Education Trust.

Maison Martin Margiela: Redefining Couture

Martin Margiela is somewhat of a mystery man in the fashion world. There are very few people within the industry’s inner circle who actually know what he looks like, let alone have spoken to him directly. Instead his company chooses to communicate to the world as a collective of individuals all dressed alike in white lab coats, making it even harder to discern which one of them might be the designer himself.

But this form of anonymity, in the age of the cult designer, seems to extend to his work. Instead of a distinct logo, his clothes are simply numbered. Instead of sending out a bevy of supermodels down his runway, he prefers to use “ordinary people,” even going so far as to tape over model’s eyes in many of his fashion shoots, so that the focus remains squarely on the clothes.
Yet despite this personal aversion to publicity he remains a respected innovator within the fashion world, and his shows are often the highlight of Paris fashion week.

What we do know is that he was born in Louvain, Belgium in 1957. He is a graduate of the Royal Academy of fine arts in Antwerp and between 1985 and 1987 Margiela worked for Jean Paul Gaultier, before showing his first collection under his own label ‘Maison Martin Margiela’ in 1988. Since its beginnings, Maison Martin Margiela has included with its prêt-à-porter collection a number of garments, accessories and objects defined by the name ‘artisanal’.

Although when Margiela first came on the scene in the late 80’s he became closely linked to the Antwerp Seven and dubbed a deconstructionist, it quickly became apparent that his true passion and innovation in fashion lies in his ability to take vintage and everyday clothing, textiles, and accessories and re-work them into something new. By taking humble and “low-status” materials and refashioning them into desirable garments through the use of labor intensive and technically innovative methods, he’s been able to create a new form of couture.
The infamously selective Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture toke note and asked him to present as a guest member during couture week.

Like haute couture, the limited edition pieces he creates for his artisanal line are all constructed by hand and executed to the highest standards of couture. Yet there is something slightly subversive about a coat composed of dozens of ski gloves that have been taken apart, dyed a darker shade, laid flat and then stitched back together on a tailor’s dummy. A process that took 103 hours to complete. Or there is the long sleeve jacket fabricated from a nylon travel garment bag. Nothing is left to waste in this design, where the bag’s linings are used to create the jackets sleeves, the original piping, hooks and zippers serve as embellishment, while the bag’s shoulder strap has been transformed into the jackets belt. Total hours, 53. No materials are off limits when one considers a dress by the house assembled from recycled painted canvases. Dubbed “le marché aux puces painted canvases,” it received a lot of praise.

Although Margiela’s work is about the structure of existing garments and the possibilities of transforming them, he is also indirectly transforming the structure of the Couture industry as well. One could argue that his exclusive line is as much about questioning ones perceptions of seasons, trends, sustainability, class and even status within the fashion world, as it is about pushing new boundaries in clothing design through the use of age old couture techniques.