Couture Houses
The named houses. Worth inventing the designer's label, Chanel and Dior, Balenciaga and Saint Laurent, McQueen and Galliano, Comme des Garçons, the ateliers, the founders and the collections that carried their names.
Part of Fashion
22 moments in this segment.
- - Charles Frederick Worth Opens. 1858. Charles Frederick Worth opens at 7 rue de la Paix, Paris. Established the haute couture system: live models, seasonal collections, designer-as-artist, signature labels in the garment. The first couturier in the modern sense; every Paris house since traces back to Worth.
- - Poiret's Hobble Skirt. (1908-1914), so narrow at the ankle that women shuffled. The defining "anti-corset but new-constraint" silhouette.
- - Chanel No. 5. May 5, 1921. Chanel No. 5 launched. First perfume to mass-use synthetic aldehydes; first "designer fragrance." Marilyn Monroe famously slept in nothing but five drops. Still the best-selling perfume in the world a century later.
- - Schiaparelli Lobster Dress. Schiaparelli x Dalí, 1937. White silk evening dress with a large lobster painted on the skirt by Dalí. Worn by Wallis Simpson in Cecil Beaton's Vogue portraits, the most-photographed Surrealist garment ever made.
- - Givenchy Founds His House. 1952. Hubert de Givenchy opens at 8 rue de l'Alboni. His 1953 meeting with Audrey Hepburn becomes one of the great designer-muse partnerships of the century, Sabrina, Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany's.
- - Lagerfeld Takes Chanel. 1983. Karl Lagerfeld becomes creative director of Chanel, eight years after Coco's death; the house was moribund. Modernised the codes (interlocking C logo, the 2.55 bag, tweed jacket). Ruled until his death February 2019, the longest tenure of any major creative director.
- - Galliano at Givenchy. 1995. LVMH appoints John Galliano to Givenchy, first non-French designer to lead a French haute couture house. Moves to Dior 18 months later (1996), succeeded at Givenchy by Alexander McQueen.
- - McQueen Takes Givenchy. October 1996. 27-year-old Alexander McQueen succeeds Galliano at Givenchy. The October 1997 first collection bombs; press hostile. McQueen builds his own house in parallel through 2001; LVMH lets him buy his way out to focus on it.
- - Tom Ford at YSL. 1999. After PPR acquires YSL, Tom Ford becomes creative director of both YSL and Gucci. The most ambitious dual appointment in fashion history. The Opium ad campaign (2000) becomes the most-banned fashion advert of the decade.
- - Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy. 2008. Riccardo Tisci's Givenchy era begins. The Rottweiler t-shirt (2011), the star-and-cross prints. Brought streetwear motifs into Parisian luxury before anyone else; designed Kim Kardashian's wedding dress (2014).
- - Phoebe Philo at Céline. September 2008. Phoebe Philo named creative director of Céline. The "Old Céline" era (2008-2017): minimalist, intellectual, beloved by editors and women working in publishing/architecture/film. Brought back accent-less "Celine" 2018 (rebranded by Hedi Slimane); Philo returned with her own label October 2023.
- - Paul Poiret Opens His House. 1903. Paul Poiret opens his Paris atelier. By 1906 he's designed dresses without corsets, the first major couturier to abandon them. Brought Eastern + Orientalist motifs into mainstream Paris. Dominated 1910s fashion; was the first global fashion celebrity. The subject dates from 1903; this photograph was taken in 2011.
- - Yves Saint Laurent Opens. January 29, 1962. 26-year-old YSL opens his eponymous house after being fired from Dior. The Mondrian dress (1965), Le Smoking tuxedo (1966), the safari jacket. Founded ready-to-wear (Rive Gauche, 1966), democratised couture. The subject dates from 1962; this photograph was taken in 2011.
- - Galliano Fired by Dior. March 1, 2011. John Galliano filmed making antisemitic remarks at a Paris bar. Dior fires him within days. The first major designer cancellation; Galliano spends 3 years in exile before quietly returning at Maison Margiela 2014.
- - Balenciaga in Paris. 1937 onward (Paris). Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish couturier, produces the most architectural couture of the mid-century. Chanel: "He alone is a couturier in the truest sense of the word. The others are simply fashion designers." Closes 1968, leaving the profession in protest at ready-to-wear. The subject dates from 1947; this photograph was taken in 2012.
- - Elsa Schiaparelli. 1927. Elsa Schiaparelli opens her Paris house. Surrealist collaborations with Dalí (the lobster dress, 1937); shocking pink. The artistic counterweight to Chanel's minimalism. House closed 1954; revived 2014 under Daniel Roseberry.
- - Chanel Opens Her Hat Shop. 1910. Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel opens her millinery at 21 rue Cambon. By 1913 she's expanded to Deauville, by 1915 to Biarritz. Within 20 years the most powerful woman in fashion; within 60, the most-quoted designer in history.
- - Phoebe Philo Returns. October 30, 2023. Phoebe Philo's first collection under her own label after a six-year absence. 150 pieces. Sold out within days; revived the "Old Céline" intellectual-minimalism market that had been waiting for her.
- - Sabato De Sarno at Gucci. September 22, 2023. Sabato De Sarno's Gucci debut after Michele's departure. Stripped-back, "quiet luxury" aesthetic, the early-2020s industry pivot away from maximalism. Mixed critical reception; let go in February 2025.
- - Pharrell at Louis Vuitton. February 2023. Pharrell Williams named LV menswear creative director after Virgil Abloh's death. The Pont Neuf show (June 2023), Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Kim Kardashian front row. The most-commented menswear debut since Virgil's.
- - Blazy at Chanel. February 2025. Matthieu Blazy succeeds Virginie Viard (who had succeeded Karl Lagerfeld) at Chanel. The most-anticipated creative-director appointment of the 2020s.
- - Jonathan Anderson at Dior. June 2025. Jonathan Anderson named creative director of Dior, both menswear and womenswear, the first single-person directorship of both since Galliano. Anderson left Loewe for the bigger stage.
