Alexis Mabille show as part of Paris Fashion Week Haute-Couture. REVERED as the pinnacle of fashion, haute couture is more than just beautiful pieces for rarefied occasions. The designs, fabrics and handiwork involved are at a premium, of course. But the first part of the process, once the shows are over, is a discussion between the designer and client. Following the Christian Dior show in Paris last week, designer Raf Simons discussed the process with journalists, saying his collection was a proposition to the customer. In couture work there are phone calls, 'Oh, we love that, but can we have this fabric?' It's a communication. Lots of people think that couture is something which is stagnant. But, in fact, it is very much an evolving idea. This discussion is the beginning of a journey together for the client and designer and their atelier (studio). There are any number of factors, aside from personal preferences, that can influence the final product, such as religion, age and occasion. According to Alexis Mabille, a certified haute couturier since 2010, and one of only 14 maisons granted haute couture status by France's governing body of fashion, Le Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, the working relationship is "a kind of friendship to get the result at the end; we work very closely with the clients." Those clients come to them via a number of means. "Some of them come because of the press," says Mabille, who offers some insights into the process from the perspective of his smaller scale atelier. Others come because they've seen our dresses at parties, others are recommended by people who know them or whose job is to make them happy, such as personal shoppers, or someone in their family is a client. There is also a pecking order once the show is over, with the first clients from a particular country having first dibs on the whole collection, and as those pieces are ordered the next customers from the same country will have fewer items to choose from. "You don't want to be in the same dress (at an event) if you were all invited to the same show," Mabille says. As to how much the finished item resembles the piece that hit the catwalk, this is the result of that conversation between the client and designer. "The more fashion-addict clients want the exact piece from the show," says Mabille. But it's different for each client. We redraw the pieces for them until they are happy. Some want the skirt a little longer or cut shorter. This is also the point where cultural aspects can come into play, especially for clients from the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia or Qatar. In some countries you can't show the arms, or sometimes they even want traditional costumes, but in a modern way, and we can do it. (For example) an abaya for a wedding, of course we can do that, we work it in a new proposition with details from the collection. It's interesting to see how this can work. Once the discussion is complete and the design finalised, the fabrics are chosen, a pattern is cut and a toile made in a less expensive fabric, often calico. Even at this stage the toile can be adjusted over a few fittings. The dress is then made in the actual fabric, and more fittings take place, two or three if necessary. "Many times you are flying direct to them to show them the piece," says Mabille. Sometimes they come to Paris or we go to London, Marbella or New York. You never know where your clients will be flying to do fittings in the actual fabrics. Any embellishment, such as beading, silk flowers, embroidery, feather work or hand painting is then added to the fabric by specialist artisans. The dress is then left to hang for two weeks, as "the length of the dress can drop in this time. This is couture, you take the time. And that time can vary dramatically depending on the garment and the amount of pairs of hands that work on it. Mabille says that there are ultimately two kinds of clients: those who have grown up with the couture culture, for example women whose mothers and grandmothers wore haute couture, who understand the whole process and what to expect when they take their turn in line; and new customers who learn about the process the first time that they order something. I can tell you, with couture it is very interesting; there are rich people everywhere in the world and they buy couture as if they buy a piece of art or jewellery; they want the process with it, the craftsmanship, they want something special. That's why people are prepared to pay the price for that, as it reflects the work. The subject of prices is not one openly discussed by the houses, but it is generally accepted that haute couture prices start in the early tens of thousands while the most extravagant evening dresses can be about $100,000. At that level, doesn't the client always get their way? What if they want changes the designer doesn't agree with? "In that case we don't do it," says Mabille. It's different to come into a couture house than to go and see a seamstress. It all comes back to that discussion. Many times clients are more open at the end to buying a dress that is different to what they wanted at the beginning. It's up to us to direct them to the best result.