Caught in the Act

Behind the Paris haute couture masterworks lie the fabled workrooms. Hamish Bowles meets the highly skilled tailors and dressmakers whose wizardry makes the magic real...

In the couture ateliers, the atmosphere is one of single-minded focus and industry. Mobile phones are forbidden, and the garments in progress are shrouded in white cotton capes to protect them from dust, light, and prying eyes.

Battalions of headless tailor's mannequins are padded in the exact measurements of clients to facilitate the fitting process. In most houses, the seamstresses and tailors wear clinical white lab coats and pochettes as pendants containing the little scissors, thimbles, and skeins of thread that are the tools of their trade.


The designer's caprices must be indulged at all costs. "We have to efface ourselves entirely and absorb the spirit of the designer," says Chanel's Mme Cécile. "They are artists, and one must interpret what they want."

As for what we think of this job... "It was a dream. Clients would come from New York, Paris and all over the world and stay two or three months for their fittings. We've got to dress them!"