Style of life

Updated: 2014-02-10 07:22

By Sun Yuanqing (China Daily)

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Style of life

Flowers dominate the runway of Dolce&Gabbana's haute couture collection Alta Moda Spring/Summer 2014. Photos Provided by Kessler Studio/Pier Nicola Bruno Studio

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And it's not just couture. Dolce&Gabbana's service for the clients goes beyond that. Small but elaborately prepared gifts are sent to the clients' hotel suites before and after the show. They organize weekends that include visits to museums and opera houses for clients who come to the city to attend the show.

"We take care of every single detail. The customers have everything. They live in a couture life," Gabbana says. "We have a different approach. That's why we call it Alta Moda, not 'Alta Couture'. Because 'couture' is French, 'style' is different."

Over the past 29 years, the label has developed into one of the most successful fashion empires that spans across clothes, perfumes, bags, shoes, cosmetics and jewelry.

The duo, best known for transforming Sicilian aesthetics into a long-lasting fashion style, initiated their haute couture line in 2012 amid the euro-zone crisis.

As the most expensive section of fashion that offers made-to-measure garments that can fetch prices as high as millions of yuan, haute couture has remained surprisingly unscathed since the crisis thanks to the super rich, who managed to stay detached from the financial crisis, and emerging markets like South Arabia, Brazil and China.

Now Dior brings its couture show to China once a year while Chanel comes twice a year to cater to affluent Chinese clients.

Alta Moda is seeing most of its clients from Russia, South Arabia, South Africa and Brazil. Four Chinese clients also flew to Milan from the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week this time, looking feverishly for the hand-painted brocade gowns after the show.

While determined to stay in Italy for the next two years to get a distinct Italian "imprint" on the Alta Moda collection, Gabbana says the label is planning a mid-season haute couture show in China.

"Like the mid-season shows we did in New York and Paris, we will look which season is in China and make something special," Gabbana says.

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