Paris hosts the official haute couture fashion week recognized by France’s Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode.
Haute couture is a protected French designation with demanding requirements, including made-to-measure work, hand-finished techniques and an atelier in Paris for approved houses. The federation organizes and coordinates the official couture calendar and determines which houses may present under its classifications.
Couture shows are different from ordinary ready-to-wear fashion weeks. Garments are produced for individual clients rather than mass retail, and a single look can require hundreds of hours of handwork. Collections are normally presented in January and July.
Paris became the center of haute couture through the nineteenth-century couture system and the influence of designers such as Charles Frederick Worth, often called the father of haute couture. Couture and Paris Fashion Week overlap, but they are not identical events.