Definition of "couture"

It was the branding of these products, rather than the couture itself, that would become the foundation of the industry, generating huge global sales by the last quarter of the century.

2007, Cally Blackman, 100 Years of Fashion Illustration‎, page 166

Anyway, there are only a few hundred clients in the world who regularly buy couture, including Middle Eastern royalty and American businesswomen.

2018 June 30, Vanessa Friedman, “Why We Cover High Fashion”, in The New York Times‎