PARIS — Couture faces a 2015 full of uncertainties except for one: High fashion entered the New Year firing on all cylinders.
France’s most emblematic houses, Chanel and Dior, characterized 2014 as a record year for couture as an influx of younger clients from varied geographies, especially Asia, continue to fuel the rare and costly enterprise.
Valentino cited a 50 percent bump in last year’s couture tallies, lifted in part by a Shanghai showing and sustained demand from the Middle East.
Executives downplayed the likelihood of a drop in attendance due to the recent terror attacks in Paris, confident that the world’s most privileged women — and a slice of the world press — will converge on the French capital for four days of shows, which opened Sunday night with Versace.
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“I cross my fingers,” said Sidney Toledano, chief executive officer of Dior, noting the house has received numerous messages of support and expects most fashion professionals and clients to adopt “an attitude of ‘no’ to terror, and we are not afraid.”
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Toledano was among more than a million people who marched in the French capital on Jan. 11 in a show of unity and grief for the 17 people killed at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and at a kosher supermarket. “Paris was the place to be that Sunday, and it’s going to be the place to be for the couture shows,” he added.
Giorgio Armani said he also expects a full turnout for his Privé show on Tuesday. “In my opinion, we should be careful not to scaremonger; it would be a destructive, paralyzing attitude,” he said, while noting that “our security team has always been ready to tackle any situation that may arise.”
Bag checks are likely to be among heightened security measures taken this couture season — as they were at the Paris men’s shows that just ended over the weekend.
There continue to be question marks hanging over the week, though, including Russia, as a weak ruble withers the once-mighty purchasing power of a luxury-loving population, and whether A-list film and music stars might be wary of making the trip.
Executives acknowledge that some Russian luxury clients are traveling less, and there could be readjustments.
“We are not expecting a major increase from this nationality because it’s pretty clear the ruble situation is not that easy,” said Valentino ceo Stefano Sassi, citing a 10 to 15 percent drop in Russian client traffic in the company’s boutiques.
By contrast, Asia is rising quickly. “This nationality is paying more attention to high-level products,” Sassi said, crediting the region for the biggest couture increase in 2014.
Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel fashion, said the house’s business in Russia remains “still quite good,” while underlining that nationals are traveling less in Europe and hotel occupancy rates in Courchevel, an upscale ski destination popular with Russians, are lower than a year ago.
According to the most recent Global Blue data, Russian spending declined every month in 2014, culminating in a drop of 43.8 percent year-over-year in December, reflecting the currency woes and beefed-up international sanctions.
Russian couturier Ulyana Sergeenko, who has staged runway shows for her collection since 2012, has switched to a presentation format in the wake of the crisis.
“The money we earn depends on our efforts, and we consider all the economic changes,” she told WWD. “We want to give our customers more privacy, attention and provide an individual approach.”
Other tactics include expanding “demi-couture” to make clients “feel more confident and have larger choices,” Sergeenko said, explaining that her costs have doubled for fabrics purchased in France, Italy, Germany and the U.K. because of the weaker ruble.
“The situation is very difficult for the country,” she said. “We haven’t felt the changes yet, but they will definitely happen and affect life.”
Armani cited “steadiness” in couture in 2014, and said he expects to post an increase in 2015 “even though there are some unpredictable variables since fashion is closely linked to lifestyles. The biggest challenge is to maintain and, if possible, increase our presence in the market with luxury products for demanding, high-end consumers.”
Echoing Chanel, the Italian designer said Russian customers have been spending less because of the weak ruble. “But it is for this very reason that we wish to continue to invest in this market, as it is quite interesting for us,” he said.
Clients from the Middle East and the Far East purchased the highest volumes of couture last year, Armani said, adding that “the Brazilian market is also showing significant signs of growth.”
While touting customers of “all age groups,” Armani said the average age is dropping, adding, “This is very interesting and it inspires me creatively.”
The youthquake is also reflected in ateliers. Valentino’s Sassi said the average age of the firm’s seamstresses and tailors is about six to eight years lower “compared to three or four years ago. We are putting new people, including young people, into the atelier. It’s the kind of job experience and skills we want to keep very alive.”
Executives agreed it is difficult to forecast couture sales for 2015, even as many houses report strong momentum.
“Customers are waiting to see the collection first, and we need to have the right environment,” said Chanel’s Pavlovsky.
To be sure, Karl Lagerfeld’s “Le Courbusier goes to Versailles” collection for fall 2014 resonated strongly with customers, ranking as Chanel’s top seller ever in unit and value terms, with a double-digit gain.
Fashion has also fueled Dior.
Since the arrival of Raf Simons as the house’s sixth couturier two years ago, couture sales have doubled, Toledano said. “Through the couture, he’s bringing a new impulse to Dior with his vision of a modern woman,” the ceo said, trumpeting a new generation of thirtysomething clients from the entertainment and technology businesses who are looking for alternatives to stereotypical “red-carpet” dressing.
He cited an influx of clients from Asia, also boosted by a Hong Kong show in 2014; gains in the U.S. that could accelerate given more buoyant consumer sentiment and a strengthening dollar, and sustained demand in the Middle East, where clients have also embraced Simons’ modernist fashions.
“We have to continue training people, because all of this is not possible without the petits mains,” Toledano said, using the French term for the elite seamstresses and tailors who realize the designs in Dior’s Avenue Montaigne ateliers. “To realize couture needs a strong organization — it’s like scientific research. You need new materials, new techniques in embroideries and prints. You need a state-of-the-art atelier.”
Pavlovsky credited a strong and active couture organization — from the sales effort to the atelier — for fanning the category’s fortunes.
The brand’s roving shows — having been in Dubai and Salzburg last year — also lift its profile and build relations with customers, especially among high-spending ready-to-wear clients who can be enticed by couture “as a kind of ultimate fashion,” said Pavlovsky, who credited the Middle East showcase and a Dallas show in December 2013 for growth in its American and Middle East couture clientele.
The executive revealed that Chanel would take its couture collection to two new cities following the Tuesday show — London and Dubai — in addition to the regular stops in New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo. “We have been able to give a very strong visibility to this activity,” he said.
“It’s a matter of product in the end,” said Sassi, crediting the designer influence of Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpoalo Piccioli for “a very strong momentum for the brand.”
Valentino plans to show its fall couture in Rome in tandem with the opening of a flagship, as reported.
Novelties of couture week include a showing by Italian lingerie firm La Perla, and two runway shows today for Schiaparelli that are credited to an in-house design team, a rarity in a craft dominated by such acclaimed and famous talents as Lagerfeld, Simons, Armani and Jean Paul Gaultier.
Schiaparelli managing director Camilla Schiavone said she was “extremely satisfied” with the performance of Schiaparelli’s fall 2014 collection, its second since Italian business titan Diego Della Valle revived the storied label after a 60-year absence.
While many were caught off guard by the exit of designer Marco Zanini, who earned mostly plaudits for his eccentric take on the house’s legacy, Schiavone said clients are attracted by Schiaparelli’s iconic name, legacy and exclusive aura, as it only markets couture.
“We have talents on board that are able to bring about the spirit of Schiaparelli and make it relevant for today’s women. As far as a new creative director is concerned, it will be announced later,” she said.
Schiavone forecast “a significant growth of clients as we are still a ‘new’ name on the official calendar. We already received more requests than the previous two shows.”
Sophie Waintraub, general manager of Jean Paul Gaultier — now devoted exclusively to high fashions following the designer’s swan song rtw show in October — said couture posted a 15 percent increase last year.
She called 2015 a linchpin year as “Gaultier will focus his creativity on couture and we are hoping to be able to grow the business exponentially. We are planning to develop more bespoke choices within the collections.”
Waintraub highlighted strong demand for special-occasion couture.
“There is a distinct trend for big wedding dresses and what we call ‘le grand soir.’ We worked on more weddings than usual in 2014,” she said, while noting the house has regulars who order daywear.
Gaultier’s roving fashion retrospective arrives in Paris in April for a five-month run before heading to the Kunsthalle of the Hypo Cultural Foundation in Munich beginning in September. Gaultier is also planning events in Saint Petersburg, Russia; Vienna, and the Dominican Republic.