High Fashion Immune To Low Stocks So Far

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jul 1st 2008 at 9:02AM

Like the high-end art market, the high-end fashion market continues to remain afloat in difficult times. This week is Paris Fashion Week and as WWD reports couture, the very top of the fashion world, contains to see strong sales. The number of couture clothes available is very small and clothing is in the thousands of dollars per piece.

So far, the couture business for fashion houses like Giorgio Armani, Jean Paul Gaultier and Christian Lacroix hasn't seen any fall off from the declining U.S. economy. The customers for couture exist at the very highest end of the economic spectrum and are often immune to even fairly dramatic economic shifts. Also new clients from Russia, the Middle East and Asia continue to provide a stream of new customers.

Chanel reports that today's client wants a lot of attention and can be demanding. The Chanel team has flown around the world for fittings and presentations. It seems that today's couture houses have to work harder for their customers than ever before often because today's clients have increasingly busy schedules.

Couture also remains a way to reinforce a brand's image. We can't all afford the gorgeous Galliano gown shown above but the beautiful couture clothing serves as an advertisement for the quality and inventiveness of the designer.

Tags: couture, economy, fashion, paris