Does Couture Actually Sell?

We’ve all watched the designs stomp down the runway and we’ve all seen the price tags next to editorials in our favorite fashion magazines. I’m also pretty sure that almost all of us have had this thought cross their mind: does anyone actually ever buy this stuff?

We all know that the ultra expensive couture gowns that grace the stars bodies down the red carpet are lent out, so how are fashion houses even making a profit? The haute couture fashion industry continues to flourish, so it does make one wonder.

Cathy Horyn, famed fashion critic for the New York Times, was curious and took initiative to coming down to the bottom of this issue. Horyn went to Dior and Chanel to investigate and found that Raf Simons’s fall 2012 Dior couture collection was actually quite lucrative.

Catherine Riviere, Dior’s director of haute couture, told Horyn that this season had done better than previous seasons. To be exact, the house experienced double-digit growth and has gotten more orders than they can fill.

Is it because Simons’s most recent collection has been more wearable than couture or is the world just open to spending more on luxury pieces?

Ally | Elite.

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