Givenchy and Balmain have cancelled their Fall 2004 haute couture shows. The news about Givenchy is official, with a statement from the House of Givenchy saying that because they have not appointed a womenswear designer yet, they have decided not to do a runway show.

Givenchy’s move was expected and logical. Since Julien Macdonald vacated his post last March, the venerable Paris fashion house has not named a new Artistic Director. And even if they did, the short time frame between March and July is very tight considering that it takes about three months for a handmade garment to be finished.

There had been no official announcement yet from Balmain but according to reliable sources, it is a done deal. This is not the first time that Balmain had cancelled a show.

In fact, the House had not shown during the haute couture season since Laurent Mercier left last June 2003, resulting in a cancellation of their couture show for the Fall 2003 season that was held July. Plans for a show last January during the Spring 2004 season never materialized.

There are rumors going around that this coming season will be the last couture show for Emanuel Ungaro and Hanae Mori. Both houses are financially healthy, so it is not money woes that are stopping them. With very little facts to go and no official word from both houses, it is safer NOT to speculate.

If they stop showing though, they are not the first houses that did. Lanvin and Nina Ricci abandoned haute couture sometime ago due to the reality that couture collections are not economically viable in general.

Currently, it is estimated that there are 1500 couture clients all over the world, with 60% of them Americans. In the 1950s, during the height of haute couture, the estimate was approximately 15,000.

Evidently, times have changed during the past 40 years. The current market could not support more than a handful of haute couture houses.

And with the rise of demi-couture, a new fashion movement wherein designers go for the “richly detailed look” of haute couture without the astronomical price tag that goes with it, potential clients for the crème de la crème of fashion are attracted to demi-couture.