The House that Worth Built - The Origins of Haute Couture

London - 1825 Charles Frederick Worth was born in Lincolnshire, England, on October 13, 1825. Before Worth had even considered himself a fashion designer, he began work as a young apprentice in London for two textile merchants. It was in London that Worth cut his textile teeth – acquiring a superior knowledge of fabric and cloth used in dressmaking at the time. Worth took in the sights and smells the English capital had to offer, and began visiting the National Gallery, where he studied the gowns worn by women sat in historic portraits. It was here that he absorbed garment colors, textures and weaves. Confident and inspired, the clogs in his business mind began to turn: How could he meet the extravagant fashion needs of these European women whom sat flamboyantly in frills and trimmings from times past?Worth decided he would such create fashionable ensembles with similar exuberant bows, billowy silhouettes and intricate materials for the modern woman. He would also take on the masquerade trend from the illustrious Victorian era and work it into his future gowns. Meanwhile, the market for luxury and womenswear was smouldering elsewhere. Not in England, but across the Channel, in France.  Paris: New beginnings - 1845 Aged 20, Worth relocated to Paris. He soon overcame early work failures and began dealing with major textile company, Gagelin, which sold fabrics and some ready-made garments. Worth became Gagelin's leading salesman and eventually opened a small dressmaking department for the company. It was his first position as a professional dressmaker and led him to design gowns that were hailed extraordinary. Some were even featured in the Great Exhibition of London in 1851 and the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1855. But it wasn’t until the time of Napoleon’s Second Empire in France that Worth’s own empire, of a different kind, could rise. Paris: A showpiece for luxury - 1852  The restoration of a royal house, with Napoleon III as the new emperor, crowned Paris as the imperial showpiece of Europe at the time. The demand for luxury goods, including textiles and fashionable dress, soared to material heights that had not been seen since before the French Revolution. When Napoleolon married Empress Eugénie, it was her exquisite fashion that set the style for women across Europe. At the peak of Paris’ bloom, Worth opened his own store in 1858, and it was Princess Eugénie’s custom that cemented Worth as the go-to dressmaker throughout the 1860s for the rich and royal.  Worth: A designer is born - 1860  Worth's designs were famed across the continent for his use of luxurious fabrics and detailing, and his brave incorporation of historic dress elements, namely late Victorian. Worth's attention to fit and silhouette saw the Englishmen attract bespoke and custom garments for the most important clients - the beginnings of haute couture. For others, he would prepare several ready-to-wear gowns, which he displayed on live models, as women browsed and shop from them. From here, the fitting and alterations would take place, before being sent to Worth’s workshop to be tailor-made. By the 1870s, Worth's name frequently appeared in fashion magazines, spreading talk of his creations to women across Paris, over to London and the rich in surrounding British regions. Through the right connections, self-promotion and his now innate inability to dress women in the right fabrics, the House of Worth was formed. House of Worth - 1875 Worth was soon labeled by industry professionals as ‘the first couturier’, and soon women from as far as ‘Downton Abbey’  were visiting his House in search of immaculate form, texture and detail. He was one of a few specialty dressmakers in Paris at the time, but is was his favor with the Princess and his ability to charm the global elite that saw the designer remain adored by hundreds of female socialites. One such client was Caroline Schermerhorn Astor Wilson – a prominent New York socialite of the late 19th century. ‘Mrs. Astor’, as she was known, owned two of Worth’s evening dresses. Both featured lavish fabrics and ornamental embroidery picked out in metallic thread and glass or crystal beads. The fabrics were woven and embroidered as separate pieces, designed to become specific parts of the dress, such as a center front skirt panel. Significant couture details, such as the beaded stars at the hemline of the dress and the asymmetry of the skirt drapery, were added to differentiate a Worth gown from the countless imitators of the period. Another evening dresses, made at the turning of the 20th, boasted the fashionable reverse S-curve silhouette of the early 1900s, with a dramatic scroll pattern reflecting the influence of the Art Nouveau movement. Black velvet contrasted on an ivory satin ground, creating the illusion of ironwork, with curving tendrils emphasizing the fashionable shape of the garment. In order to achieve this effect, the textile was woven à la disposition, with the intent that each piece would become a specific part of the dress.  Employing a textile design that mirrored itself from selvage to selvage, Worth's wedding dress gowns were pieced into a perfectly symmetrical image at the center front. This finishing detail distinguished the couture garment from the less luxurious gowns from the ready-to-wear market that were seen everywhere in the mid- to late nineteenth century - pushed by the Industrial revolution. Textile patterns emphasized a woman's sough-after hourglass figure, achieved with the help of a steel-boned corset. Looking closely, small handstitched cartridge pleats at the shoulder created voluminous sleeves to off-set waists. The design of this sleeve, broad at the upper arm and fitted at the lower arm with the sleeve extending over the back of the hand, refers to sixteenth-century dress styles (evidently inspired by Worths visit to the National Gallery as a young man).Worth: A family man - 1895Worth built his design house into a huge business during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. His sons, Gaston-Lucien and Jean-Philippe  took over their father's House following his death in 1895 and succeeded in maintaining his high standards. Jean-Philippe's designs in particular followed in his father's aesthetic steps, with his use of dramatic fabrics and lavish trimmings. The House flourished during the sons' direction and into the 1920s. The great fashion dynasty finally came to an end in 1952 when Charles Frederick Worth's great-grandson, Jean-Charles, retired from the family business. Modern day Worth - 1999   In 1999 entrepreneur Dilesh Mehta acquired Worth’s fashion house, appointing Giovanni Bedin as designer in 2010. Since then, the maison has presented three ready-to-wear and three haute couture collections in Paris, drawing on the authentic heritage left by Charles Worth, but with an updated twist to satiate 21st century tastes. The garments have been snapped on the bodies of Kylie Minogue, Cheryl Cole and Charlize Theron.   The label’s most standout collection in modern times was showed for haute couture SS12. Bedin divulged into orientalism with pleats fanning their way across the eight-piece collection. The theme was the kimono, inspired by a beautiful Japanese coat the designer had seen at the Kyoto Costume Institute in Japan. Silks and dense cottons were featured materials, paired with embroidery tassel trim and lace. The legacy - 2015 Worth Paris (the maison's new name) lent its couture hand with specialty costume design for the stage adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations in 2012. Black gowns spilled-out tulle like a fountain of soft tar, with feathers, lace, cotton and silk forming the embroidered bodice and puffed shoulders.But in recent years, neither a couture or ready-to-wear collection has been released by Worth Paris, following a beautiful and seemingly final couture line in SS13. Some of Worth’s most celebrated garments can be found, however, in the permanent collection of The Costume Institute in New York's Met Museum, as well as in other institutions in the United States.