Jennifer Lopez wins my vote for best dressed at this year's Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I'm not usually, if ever, a fan of JLo fashion, including the clothes she wears and the clothes she "designs." However, she looked outstanding at the Gala especially compared to Kristen Stewart....
who, errr, opted for this travesty of a gown...ANYWAY,
Lopez's gown is a haute couture piece by Zuhair Murad. Murad is a Beirut-based designer from Lebanon and has made quite a few of these gorgeous haute couture gowns for starlets.
Now, the term "haute couture" I must delve into further...
"Haute Couture", often shortened to "couture" is often used to refer to high fashion, but actually has a quite different meaning. In the fashion world, couture refers to a garment produced by fashion houses that sew custom garments for their clients. However, these days, "couture" is used to refer to really anything, regardless of whether or not the garment has been custom fitterd. (i.e. phony Juicy Couture....)
The phrase "haute couture" translates to "high dressmaking" and is protected in France under law. In order to truly be considered couture, a garment must be produced by a member of the Chambre de Commerce et d'industrie de Paris AND the garment must be fitted to a specific cleinet with at least two personal fittings to ensure that the garment fits properly.
Outside of France, the term "haute couture" is not protected, which allows for any brand to exercise their freedom of speech and tag whatever they want as couture. Munrad is not a member of the Chambre, but his gowns are still handmade and custom fitted, allowing him to approriately use this term.
However, next time you see someone parading around in their prided Juicy Couture sweats, you can smile knowing that two fashion faux paus were committed:
one, that they are so bereft of class that they decided to wear their sweats in public,
and two, that their label is either erroneous or entirely moronic (custom fit sweats? really?)
