Father of Haute Couture Charles Frederick Worth launched a fashion revolution in 1858 at 7 Rue de la Paix, Paris. Charles Frederick Worth, a British-born designer, opened a fashion house that changed the industry forever. He didn’t just create dresses—he invented haute couture.
Before Worth, rich women brought fabric and sketches to tailors. Designers followed orders. But Worth flipped the model. He made the designs. Clients chose from his vision, not their own. It was a bold shift—and it worked.
Now, more than 150 years later, Paris celebrates his influence with a major exhibition. “Worth: Inventing Haute Couture” is open at the Petit Palais until September 7. The show marks his 200th birthday and honors the legacy of a man who made fashion what it is today.
The First Fashion Celebrity
Worth was the first to become famous for making clothes. His name was known worldwide, long before logos became standard. He dressed queens, actresses, and high-society women from Europe to America.
Empress Eugénie of France, wife of Napoleon III, loved his designs. So did Sarah Bernhardt, Nellie Melba, and America’s elite—the Vanderbilts and Astors among them. During the Second Empire, his gowns were the highlight of costume balls across Paris.
His atelier grew fast. By the 1870s, over 1,000 people worked under his name. Worth was an empire in motion.
Fashion’s First Runway Show
He also invented practices now standard in fashion. Live models were first used in his salon. His wife, Marie, became the first ever fashion model.
Worth photographed each garment and gave it a name or number. He branded his clothes with a label—a move that fought off copycats and built prestige.
He also helped launch the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in 1868. This became France’s fashion authority and still exists today as the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode.
A Timeless Exhibition
The Paris exhibition spans the house’s work from its start through the 1920s. Dresses, perfumes, art, and rare photographs are on display. Some gowns, so fragile with age, can’t travel. They remain protected in France.
Visitors can smell the house’s 1925 fragrance, “Je Reviens,” recreated for the show. Historic perfume bottles by René Lalique also appear.
Pieces like the modular “transformation dress” and an extravagant umbrella-inspired costume reveal the house’s blend of utility and fantasy.
Legacy Beyond the Stitch
Worth passed away in 1895. But his sons carried on the business. As fashion evolved under the Third Republic, Worth’s house adapted. Crinolines vanished. Bustles rose. His styles softened with time.
American tariffs in the 1890s made exports costly. That shift gave rise to knockoffs in the U.S. But Worth’s fight to protect design had already begun.
Today, his influence lives on—not just in museums, but in every designer-led fashion house around the world.
Source: CNN
