Bling Empire’s Christine Chiu, Sheikha Moza and Queen Rania wear haute couture – who else is part of this exclusive club?

Only a handful of fashion labels make haute couture – Chanel, Dior and Valentino among them
Prices for haute couture garments, which are handmade in Paris, range from about US$10,000 to up to US$300,000

Fashion

Vincenzo La Torre

Published: 3:15pm, 12 Feb, 2021

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In the Netflix reality show Bling Empire, Taiwanese-American Christine Chiu loves to boast about her extensive couture collection. It’s easy to understand why.

Haute couture is the most rarefied realm of luxury fashion. Only a handful of brands make haute couture – Chanel, Dior and Valentino among others – and the number of clients who buy couture is estimated to be about 4,000 around the world.

Back in the day, American and European heiresses accounted for the lion’s share of couture customers, but these days the couture ateliers of Paris in France cater to Middle Eastern royals, Russian oligarchs and ultra-wealthy Asians.

Prices for couture garments, which are handmade in Paris, range from about US$10,000 for a simple day outfit to as much as US$300,000 for more complex items, such as embroidered gowns that can take hundreds of hours to make. The creation of each piece, custom made to fit the wearer’s body like a glove, requires a series of fittings, which normally take place in the French capital, or at one of the client’s residences if that is their wish.

Dr Gabriel Chiu and Christine Chiu. She loves to boast about her extensive couture collection. Photo: CWH

While Chiu doesn’t shy away from showing off her couture collection, couture clients tend to be extremely private.

Here’s a look at some privileged women who are well-known couture customers.

Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al Missned

Sheikha Moza, the wife of the former Emir (the head of state) of Qatar, is considered the chicest woman in the Middle East. She often has her couture creations customised to meet the modesty requirements of Qatar.

A loyal buyer of top brands such as Chanel and Valentino, which incidentally is owned by a Qatari investment fund, she also supports smaller couture brands such as Ulyana Sergeenko and Stéphane Rolland.

Danielle Steel

This San Francisco-based writer needs no introduction – her romance novels have made her one of the bestselling authors in the world.

Steel is a regular at the couture shows in Paris, where she is often ensconced in the front row next to top celebrities or her equally fashion-obsessed daughters Vanessa and Samantha Traina. She is a big fan of Chanel couture.

Lynn Wyatt

The 85-year-old Texan socialite and philanthropist, who lives in Houston in the United States, is the heiress of a department store chain, while her husband, Oscar Wyatt, is an energy and oil tycoon.

Wyatt, a long-time collector of haute couture, owns rare pieces from the early days of Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel and original outfits created by the late Yves Saint Laurent himself.

Mouna Ayoub Zulu

Originally from Lebanon, French socialite Ayoub was once married to Nasser Al-Rashid, who was the financial adviser to the King of Saudi Arabia. She’s a regular at the Cannes Film Festival and a fan of big diamonds and one-of-a-kind couture confections.

In the ’90s she famously sold the “Mouna diamond”, one of the largest yellow diamonds ever, to help pay for a massive yacht. She is a fan of designer Jean Paul Gaultier.

Anar Aitzhanova

The widow of Yerzhan Tatishev, the chairman of Bank Turan Alem, Aitzhanova (who comes from Kazakhstan) made headlines when she bought one of London’s most expensive flats in 2013.

She is a very low-key, but very frequent, presence at the couture shows in Paris, where she is often seen in the front row at Dior. While not much is known about her couture wardrobe, she is rumoured to be a top client.

Queen Rania of Jordan

Married to King Abdullah of Jordan, Queen Rania is one of the world’s most photographed royals, thanks in no small part to her impeccable style.

Whether she’s clad in high fashion from Western brands or traditional Middle Eastern attire, she never makes a faux pas. Her wardrobe includes couture creations from the likes of Dior, Elie Saab and Valentino.

Wendy Yu

The daughter of the billionaire founder of the Mengtian Group, Asia’s largest manufacturer of wooden doors, Yu is a philanthropist and entrepreneur. The fledgling couture collector is a fan of princess dresses from the likes of Giambattista Valli and Chinese designer Huishan Zhang. She’s a supporter and benefactor of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and a regular guest at the exclusive Met Gala.

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