couture (n.) Look up couture at Dictionary.com
1908, from French couture, literally "dressmaking, sewing," from Old French costure (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *consutura, from past participle of Latin consuere "to sew together," from con- "together" (see com-) + suere "to sew" (see sew). Used as a collective term for "women's fashion designers."