couture

couture — noun

1. the craft and business of creating expensive, custom-fitted clothes that are mad

1.nounB2
Definition

the craft and business of creating expensive, custom-fitted clothes that are made by hand for individual clients rather than produced in large quantities for shops.

Example

Harper studied couture in Milan before opening her own boutique.

Couture dresses can take hundreds of hours of hand-stitching to complete.

uncountable noun with verb: takes

Common collocations
  • couture collection
  • couture house
  • couture fashion
  • couture dress
  • couture show
  • couture week
  • haute couture
  • Paris couture
  • haute couture
  • work in couture
  • create couture
  • couture designer
Synonyms
  • haute couture

    the full French term, legally protected; more formal than 'couture' alone

  • high fashion

    broader term; can include luxury ready-to-wear, not just handmade custom pieces

  • fashion design

    general term for the creative process; lacks the exclusivity and handcrafting emphasis of couture

Antonyms
  • ready-to-wear

    mass-produced clothing sold in standard sizes, opposite of custom-made couture

  • prêt-à-porter

    the French term for ready-to-wear, directly opposed to haute couture

Usage Note

Uncountable noun — do not say 'a couture' or 'coutures'. Frequently appears in the phrase 'haute couture', a French term legally protected in the EU for fashion houses that meet specific standards of handmade work.

Common Mistakes

She wore a couture to the gala.
She wore a couture gown to the gala.
Couture is uncountable; use it as a modifier or with 'haute couture' as a noun.
The store sells many coutures.
The store sells couture clothing.
Couture has no plural form.

2. the companies, designers, and workshops that together form the high-end custom-f

2.nounC1
Definition

the companies, designers, and workshops that together form the high-end custom-fashion industry, considered as a group.

Example

The world's finest couture gathers in Paris twice a year for Fashion Week.

couture as collective: gathers

Several Italian couture houses now produce ready-to-wear lines alongside their custom pieces.

Common collocations
  • Paris couture
  • Italian couture
  • couture houses
  • top couture
Synonyms
  • fashion houses

    more concrete; refers specifically to the companies, not the entire industry

  • design houses

    broader; includes non-couture fashion labels

  • ateliers

    specifically the workshops where couture garments are made; narrower than sense 2

Usage Note

Used as a collective noun referring to the industry as a whole or an individual fashion house ('a famous Parisian couture'). Distinguish from sense 1, where 'couture' means the craft itself, not the business entities.

couture — adjective

Word family

  • couturier
    nounC1
  • couturière
    nounC2
  • haute couture
    nounB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Couture (often paired with 'haute') refers specifically to handmade, custom-fitted garments created by elite fashion houses for individual clients — the highest tier of the fashion world. 'Haute couture' is the full legal term, protected in France and the EU; only certain houses that meet strict criteria (handmade, Paris-based atelier, a minimum number of staff) may use it. 'High fashion' is a broader label that includes both couture and luxury ready-to-wear brands such as Gucci or Prada. 'Fashion design' covers the entire creative process from sketching to production, without implying exclusivity or handcrafting. 'Bespoke' overlaps in the idea of custom tailoring but is mainly used for suits and menswear, whereas couture leans toward womenswear, evening wear, and artistic expression. For example, a tailor makes a bespoke suit; Dior shows a couture gown.

haute couturehigh fashionfashion designbespoke

Common collocations

Nouns

  • couture house
  • couture collection
  • couture designer
  • couture show
  • couture week
  • couture gown
  • couture dress
  • couture suit
  • couture piece

Adverbs

Phrases

  • haute couture
  • Paris couture
  • couture fashion week

Prepositions

  • in couture
  • from couture

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Borrowed directly from French 'couture', meaning 'sewing' or 'dressmaking', which itself comes from Latin 'consuere' (to sew together). The term was adopted into English in the early 20th century as a prestige word for high-end custom dressmaking, and later broadened to include the businesses and people involved. The French phrase 'haute couture' ('high sewing') remains the official legal term in the European fashion industry.