some news about coming couture from news.yahoo.com:
Paris poised for summer's haute couture dazzle
Fri Jan 20, 11:01 AM ET
PARIS (AFP) - Haute couture designers will unveil their sartorial vision for summer 2006 starting, as the rarified, made-to-order luxury sector seeks to show its strength despite a reduced number of labels taking to the catwalk.
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The French couture federation's official calendar includes 16 shows over three days, from marquis names Chanel, Christian Dior, Christian Lacroix, Jean Paul Gaultier and Givenchy to lesser known designers such as Franck Sorbier, Dominique Sirop and Adeline Andre.
Only eight of the 10 French labels that meet the rigorous technical requirements of haute couture will step into the creative spotlight this season. Emanuel Ungaro will desist for the fourth time since announcing in 2004 that haute couture was no longer in step with what women wanted.
The other no-show in the French capital is Jean-Louis Scherrer, which said in November that forgoing the spring-summer 2006 show did not mean that it had lost its appetite for fashion's most exclusive market.
The expense and intricate savoir-faire that goes into these entirely hand-made garments regularly prompts questions about whether haute couture is commercially viable in today's world.
But Didier Grumbach, president of the couture federation and chamber of haute couture, said all the signs indicated that the business was alive and kicking. "The couture calendar is more dense than ever," he told AFP.
Haute couture gives an undeniable sheen to the image of designers who choose to send their styles down the runway as part of the official line-up, he said, adding "whatever happens, they are seen."
Getting on to the official calendar "has the capacity to institutionalise a brand," and to reassure financial backers, he said.
Adeline Andre, which burst on to the haute couture calendar last year, has recently attracted private investment allowing the house to develop. It now plans to hire new staff, and intends to market, from the end of next month, a women's ready-to-wear collection for autumn-winter 2006-07.
Beside the French design houses, Italian veteran Giorgio Armani gets the artistic ball rolling on Monday, with compatriots Maurizio Galante and Valentino following on his heels.
After graduating from several seasons on the "off" circuit to the official couture calendar last July, Portugal's Felipe Oliveira Baptista will confirm his place in the highest fashion firmament with his show on Monday.
Fans of Lebanon's Elie Saab will be eager to see how he follows up on spring-summer 2005's offering of warm turquoise, yellow, pale green and coral hues that seemed fit for Mediterranean mermaids.
And French designer Christophe Josse, formerly the right-hand man of Rose Torrente-Mett, founder of the now-defunct Torrente house, features for the first time on the official calendar.
Grumbach said he now had his sights set firmly on trying to entice big names with a "couture image and savoir-faire" such as Nina Ricci, Lanvin, Rochas and Balenciaga back to the haute couture stage.
Running parallel, the unofficial "off" calendar sees more than 20 designers make the most of the international focus to showcase their collections, including two newcomers, Romy Smits of Belgium and Indonesian Farah Angsanah.