Haute Couture Clients

[SandraJH]

Couture is no longer about profit, and it is barely about the status of being able to afford it anymore (we all know how expensive Balmain runs). Couture shows are just another advertisment for the brand.

 

[Noulah84]

You know that list of things to do before you die, one of mine is to own something couture. Better dream big right.

So how much does couture cost. I know the price is significant and I am asking a question like "how long is a piece of string" but I hve always wondered.
So for example how much would a Dior couture gown cost (ball park), or say a chanel couture suit. I know my question is very vague and the answer could be even more vague but I'm just after price ranges and what are the starting prices for garments.

oh and i'm not buying anything, it is for inteest sake.

a suit can cost u around $25,000 a ball gown depends if it is embroidered or not.

wedding dresses cost $100,000 plus.

 

[Boomer]

I wanted to mention a surprisingly good book "The Fortune Hunters" by Charlotte Hays. Many of the big gun Couture women are profiled in depth, and it is amazing the world they live in and what they do to be as rich and successful as they are...Carroll Petrie, who was shown in the Secret World of Haute Couture has a whole long chapter- just an amazing book! I'd love to go sell this stuff- what a job that would be!! B)

 

[cygnenoir]

Thanks for the tip Boomer!

I just found this book at my school library today so I'm looking forward to reading it. Schoolwork procrastination yay!

 

[agee]

I have a question- A Billionaire walks into Dior or Chanel in Paris with his beautiful trophy wife, and says we would like to order about a million dollars worth of couture...What do they do- Show them the door? I mean it is business, how do they handle a huge cash customer if they do not know them?

I think that if you are a legitimate billionaire, you will find way to make what you want known, and the target designer(s) will find a way "invite" you to their establishment.

i think it's really more about taking care of the people, their workers. they are the ones who keep it alive. the business is only one side. you see it reflected in the way they live their life, what they value. all those strikes you see on the News. their medical care. anyway, it's a bit extreme to say it will die out -it can be a necessity to some people. it will never die out completely.

But it is in the interest of the people / workers to recognize that you are running a business. Of course there are ruthless business people out there, but there are plenty of decent human beings who are running prosperous companies.
---

No one is forcing a fledgling designer to play in the big leagues, they can opt to open an atelier on Rue de Whatever in Paris and cater to minor royals and the uber-wealthy. However, a couturier / designer can't have it both ways, if you decide to open stores in London, New York, Tokyo, Beverly Hills and Dubai, if you decide to rent out one of the major venues during fashion week and if you decide to cast the likes of Natasha Poly to walk your runway, then you are playing in the big leagues and you need to concern yourself with revenues, expenses, marketing, branding, etc. in addition to your artistic expression.

 

[lilach]

The Federation Francaise de la Couture is what the Design House not a client must be a member of.

exactly. if you can afford HC they are more than glad and willing to cater to you no "mysterious" process involved no special "club" nothing.

 

[BerlinRocks]

last nite, while i was watching "The Day Before" (JPG episode) ... Some Couture Clients said they were seating second row because they didn't want to b photographed, scared to be kidnapped in their home country (idk which country they were from).

i noticed they were dressed kind of usual, too, for such an event ...

anyone knows more about this sort of stories ?
that was sort of frightening ... i would never imagine some people stalk the rich families onto Couture front row ....

 

[Boomer]

^ That's disturbing...

 

[mikeijames]

last nite, while i was watching "The Day Before" (JPG episode) ... Some Couture Clients said they were seating second row because they didn't want to b photographed, scared to be kidnapped in their home country (idk which country they were from).

i noticed they were dressed kind of usual, too, for such an event ...

anyone knows more about this sort of stories ?
that was sort of frightening ... i would never imagine some people stalk the rich families onto Couture front row ....

in my own travels, i know such threats represent an everyday concerns for prominent families in central and south america. even here in the united states, we've had the elite modify their shopping habits because they're afraid of the optics of how it looks to walk down madison avenue with two fistfuls of shopping bags while the rest of the country suffers.

 

[Boomer]

^ Not to forget the high end stores on Madison and Fifth Avenues who offer plain, unmarked shopping bags so your friends and neighbors don't know where you've been shopping...

 

[thiago:)]

oh, I saw the same episode about JPG two days ago on gnt network... I thought it was quite strange actually.

 

[Dkammern]

in my own travels, i know such threats represent an everyday concerns for prominent families in central and south america. even here in the united states, we've had the elite modify their shopping habits because they're afraid of the optics of how it looks to walk down madison avenue with two fistfuls of shopping bags while the rest of the country suffers.

i also immediately thought of south and central america.
i personally know some cases, and it's not such a strange thing. we're talking of countries where wealth is highly polarized an you either have an UHNW, or you struggle to get food every day. wealthy families are watched closely, followed... the kind of family that has the kids escorted to school, et al. it's like people are waiting for them to make "a mistake" in security and make use of it.


when you talk the optics of outlandish shopping marathons down madison avenue, i wonder if the situation may be reversing already with the economy recovering.
i've read somewhere recently that retailers are already noticing the come back of their richest customers. people who has had the money all this time, but as you say didnt want to go out and spend it all quite yet.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Needless to say, my heart bleeds for them.

 

[mikeijames]

i also immediately thought of south and central america.
i personally know some cases, and it's not such a strange thing. we're talking of countries where wealth is highly polarized an you either have an UHNW, or you struggle to get food every day. wealthy families are watched closely, followed... the kind of family that has the kids escorted to school, et al. it's like people are waiting for them to make "a mistake" in security and make use of it.

it's quite shocking witnessing it first hand. it does beg the question -- bringing it back to the couture -- of "where on earth do these women wear such extravagance?" i know there's a social bunch of jetsetters that commune in europe and other places, but is there really even a place to wear much of the couture anymore? yes, i know these events still take place -- but do they with the same frequency to warrant this level of exclusivity?

when you talk the optics of outlandish shopping marathons down madison avenue, i wonder if the situation may be reversing already with the economy recovering. i've read somewhere recently that retailers are already noticing the come back of their richest customers. people who has had the money all this time, but as you say didnt want to go out and spend it all quite yet.

the richest customers never left, they just didn't spend as much. also, if one's not going out as much to the fancy places, one needs less fancy things to wear.

 

[Boomer]

^ Good point... I saw an article about Becca Cason Thrash who is featured in Secret World of Haute Couture, and evidently she has the same problem...They were at a huge Houston Society dinner party she gave at her mansion and she changed three times during the evening so that she could show off her couture....bizarre...

 

[liberty33r1b]

^damn, i wish i had seen that....!!

 

[cygnenoir]

I remember that in the JPG documentary. So scary!

I read an article somewhere that some ladies do not sit front row so that they don't ruin their husband's image.

Some of these women are the wives of politicians (in some cases, of poorer countries) or CEOs who don't want to be photographed should they be regarded as silly or extravagant.

They would later wear their couture and say "Oh, this old thing? It's nothing!"

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Good point... I saw an article about Becca Cason Thrash who is featured in Secret World of Haute Couture, and evidently she has the same problem...They were at a huge Houston Society dinner party she gave at her mansion and she changed three times during the evening so that she could show off her couture....bizarre...

I just lost what respect I had for her ... you really don't want to out-Lindsay Ms Lohan ...

In my mind, you want to be nonchalant, to wear whatever you have lightly. It's certainly not nonchalant to leave your guests three times to change But it is nouveau riche

 

[Boomer]

^ True, on the other hand, Houston Society has few opportunities to show off- in between the cattle auctions and such....

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ If she can afford 4 changes of couture, she can afford a plane and a ticket to a party somewhere else in the world.