What, then, is haute couture?

This past fortnight, the international fashion industry has been abuzz after one John Galliano, dubbed “fashion’s most controversial designer”, which is saying a lot, was appointed creative director of fashion house Maison Martin Margiela.

It is thought an odd choice. But here is why this bit of fashion news should interest you.

Twice every year, in January and in July, Paris, the heart of couture, hosts just about 200 women in the world, a very exclusive club that attends the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week to witness the most expensive, exquisitely hand-made clothes in the world.

Haute couture, or high fashion, is a legal, registered business operating out of Paris.

As per the by-laws of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, a division of the French Ministry of Industry, an haute couturier is a designer who presides over the creation of hand-finished made-to-order clothing, in a laboratory that employs at least 20 workers in Paris.

During the fashion weeks, the haute couturier must present a minimum of 25 ensembles comprising both daytime and night-time wear.

BBC documentary "The Secret World of Haute Couture" identifies a handful of these women. Joining is by invitation only.

In it, Becca Cason Thrush, Daphne Guinness, Susan Gutfreund, Betsy Bloomingdale and Carroll Peitre are recognised.

Former members include Jackie O and Wallis Simpson.

Normal fashion week lasts about five to seven days, but couture shows have since been shortened to three. Ateliers, milliners, shoe craftsmen, have skills fast disappearing in a world of prêt-a-porter (ready to wear).

The clientele has personal relationships with celebrity designers, granting them access into hallowed territory.

In the BBC documentary, Karl Lagerfeld, a designer for Chanel says: “There are wealthy people.

People don’t know who they are, how they look, the public doesn’t know about them”. John Galliano, then with the House of Dior as well as Givenchy, reiterated, saying: “I have a kind of doctor-like relationship with my clients. I don’t like to talk about them because that is part of the mystery for couture.”

SECOND SKIN

In this world, two things are deeply discreet — the clientele and the prices.

Costs range from $10,000 (Sh891,000) to $150,000 (Sh13 million) per piece according to wsj.com; Vanity Fair pegs it as approximately $50,000 (Sh4.4 million) to $200,000 (Sh17.8 million) per piece and BBC points out a blouse can cost $20,000 (Sh1.7 million) and an embroidered dress about $100,000 (Sh8.9 million).

Clothes in a couture house don’t have price tags. While it may seem like a short list — in 2009 it was pegged at 120 — the club of glamourous, uber wealthy women have traditionally been European and American.

Now it is opening up to the Middle East, China and Russia, where men attend with their wives who later go shopping.

The new generation of couture appreciators is increasingly growing younger, reviving the culture of couture.

These ever-elegant women opt for clothes that are wearable, never trendy. The construction, fabric, so comfortable it feels like a second skin, is one of a kind.

No one else in the world has anything like what you will buy. It is collectible, wearable art, handed down from one generation to another.

As it becomes vintage, its value, like art, rises. If you treat it well, says BBC, you can give it to a museum and write it off as a tax loss.

Couture is made on the client’s body or a model and requires several fittings. Now designers combine ready to wear and couture in one show.

Clients may be faces you won’t recognise on the front row with an intricate understanding of fashion.

They deconstruct those kooky outfits on the runway you exclaim you would never wear, figuring out how to wear it and what to buy.

Clients who can’t make it have videos sent to them so they can keep tabs on what is in season.

YSL, Dior and Chanel, the latter said to be one of the few houses that makes decent money off couture, are some of the top couture houses.

UNWRITTEN LAW

Part of the unwritten rules advocate a certain body size and shape. If you can fit into what model wear, you get it at a 30% discount.

Otherwise it is bespoke which means paying full price for embellishments ranging from buttery leather, embroidery, rare feathers and one-of-a-kind fabrics acquired specifically for the dress.

You cannot pop in to see a designer. You have to make an appointment.

Couture is service. The concept of having a coterie cater to you started in couture, inspiring the red carpet culture and celebrities armed with a glam squad.

When Galliano headed the House of Dior, he revived couture. His input was considered invaluable by industry insiders, which explains why they hesitated to condemn him.

He was fired for a drunken racist and anti-Semitic verbal attack on a woman that went viral three years ago.

He is launching his comeback.

Traditions and events that require couture range from balls, dinner parties, exclusive events to coming out parties for debutantes, 16 to 19-year-old daughters of the most illustrious members of high society.

Even the packaging for couture is elegant; beautiful boxes layered with soft tissues, reused for travel. No hand held paper bags for this crowd.