The Couture Comeback: How Craftsmanship is Shaping the Modern Runway

“Fashion is very important. It is life-enhancing and, like everything that gives pleasure, it is worth doing well,” famously said the late couturier Vivienne Westwood.

Cloud Brocade Snatched a clutch bag from Maison Margiela. Source: BCAF

In a fast-paced world dominated by fleeting trends and rapid consumerism, this sentiment rings truer than ever. Westwood's words challenge the notion of clothing as merely a disposable commodity, instead urging us to recognize its power to inspire and endure. It's a philosophy that has found new life on the modern runway, where a growing number of designers are turning away from mass production to embrace the artistry and meticulous skill of traditional craftsmanship. This movement marks a powerful resurgence of haute couture's core principles.

A Return to Craftsmanship

This article will explore how a new generation of designers is sparking a renewed curiosity for these time-honoured skills, reinterpreting and innovating them to keep culture alive for generations to come. From collaborative projects preserving ancient traditions to avant-garde designers weaving a narrative of female resilience into every stitch, we'll see how craftsmanship is not a relic of the past, but the key to fashion's future.

The fashion industry as we know it began with Charles Frederick Worth, an English couturier who founded the first haute couture maison in Paris. He elevated a trade into an art form, pushing forward the fashion industry with exclusive luxury apparel for upper-class women and creating a new term—“Fashion Designer”—to refer to an artist rather than a dressmaker. The journey since has had its ups and downs, but it seemed for a time that the craftsmanship skills once so highly valued were becoming irrelevant.

However, a new generation of designers is sparking a renewed curiosity for these traditional skills, remastering and innovating them to preserve culture for generations to come.

An installation view of “Worth, Inventing Haute Couture” at Petit Palais. Source: The New Yorker

The Revival of the Artisan

In a digital and mass-produced landscape, authenticity has become the ultimate luxury. Fashion houses that champion craftsmanship are offering more than garments: they offer narrative, legacy, and soul. The artisan is no longer in the shadows; they are the heart of luxury fashion’s evolution.

In China, for instance, a project between the Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation (BCAF) and Vogue China sought to preserve traditional craftsmanship. As a component of the “New Folk Craft Series,” this initiative brought together well-known international designers and local craftspeople to produce innovative pieces that combined traditional methods with modern aesthetics. Backed by the UN Fashion Charter for Climate Action, the project not only aimed to highlight and conserve China’s rich cultural legacy but also to support international environmental initiatives. Through a number of distinctive partnerships, such as Ming Ma’s work and Xilankapu, Gabriela Hearst’s work with Dulong handwoven carpets and Louis Vuitton with Lacquered Leather, the project demonstrated how artistic innovation and cross-cultural exchange can revitalize traditional crafts, bringing them into the modern era.

Louis Vuitton & Lacquered Leather Craftsman Techniques. Source: BCAF

Ming Ma & Xilankapu. Source: BCAF

Designers Leading the Way

Visionaries like Róisín Pierce exemplify this burgeoning fashion style of craftsmanship and history. Pierce's work, such as the beautiful white gown worn by Alexa Chung at the Met Gala, represents a return to traditional workmanship and a slower, more deliberate production method. Beyond aesthetics, Pierce's usage of only white and her emphasis on "whitework" are fundamentally political, seeking to elevate an art form historically underestimated due to its relationship with women while acknowledging its complex history of both oppression and emancipation. Pierce uses traditional Irish traditions to produce modern pieces while also telling stories of female resilience and endurance, underlining a larger trend among young designers who look to the past to determine the future of fashion.

Dilara Findikoglu is another designer who reinvents ancient techniques and historical clothing by incorporating provocative and dramatic features to honour femininity. She draws from a variety of influences, from fetishwear and Victorian corsetry to Medieval designs, and frequently finishes them with traditional Turkish embroidery commissioned from local craftswomen. Findikoglu's work challenges cultural assumptions and gender dynamics, with the goal of empowering women through her creations. She seamlessly incorporates historical and legacy traditions into current fashion, stressing delicate handwork and meticulous workmanship in her one-of-a-kind designs.

Alexa Chung at the Met Gala in Roisin Pierce. Source: Getty Images

Joan’s Knives dress, by Dilara Findikoglu, Spring/Summer 2023. Source: Gata Magazine

Conclusion: Why Craftsmanship Matters Now

In a culture of immediacy, craftsmanship offers a quiet rebellion—a return to meaning, time, and touch. True luxury is no longer just about labels or logos; it's about connection, care, and creation. And while the future of fashion may embrace tech, the soul of style will always be stitched by hand.

Dilara Findikoglu coat featuring traditional Turkish ornaments and fabrics in AnOther Magazine photoshoot. Photography by Vinca Petersen, styling by Ellie Grace Cumming, art direction by Ben Freeman/Ditto. Source: AnOther Magazine

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