Paris Couture Week kicks off today (hurrah!) and, despite official statistics having been released last week that we are, in fact, in the middle of a recession (um, thanks for reminding us, Darling), the Parisian ateliers are still going strong. Presidents of the big-hitting fashion houses, which include Chanel, Christian Dior, Givenchy and Lacroix, are all reporting a percentage increase in their couture revenues from last year, and many remain optimistic about couture's future despite the financial downturn: ‘Don't forget that Mr Dior and the New Look came after the war,' says Sidney Toledano, president and chief executive officer at Christian Dior. Although the total number of couture clients remains small globally, it is the ‘experience' and creativity of haute couture which continues to reel them in and, as the president of Jean Paul Gaultier explains, ‘Couture is fantasy. You come to us if you see the world differently.' [WWD]
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