---
title: "Haute couture"
description: "Haute couture is made-to-measure fashion sewn largely by hand in Paris houses approved by the French fashion federation; the term is protected in France."
type: Glossary
url: https://teazle.art/glossary/haute-couture
published: 2026-10-14
updated: 2026-10-14
author: "The Teazle editors"
---

# Haute couture

*Haute couture is made-to-measure fashion sewn largely by hand in Paris houses approved by the French fashion federation; the term is protected in France.*

Haute couture, “high sewing”, means garments made to order for individual clients, fitted in several sessions and sewn largely by hand in a house’s own workrooms. Only houses that meet the rules of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, and are approved each year, may call themselves haute couture.

## Who started it?

Charles Frederick Worth, working in Paris from the 1850s, is often called the father of haute couture for showing his own designs on live models and labelling his clothes.


## Sources

1. [GLAM glossary](https://www.glenbow.org/blog/glam-glossary/). Glenbow
2. [Haute couture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haute_couture). Wikipedia
3. [Haute couture (Q216053)](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q216053). Wikidata

Canonical: https://teazle.art/glossary/haute-couture