Fashion flair

The Christian Lacroix brand is benefiting from the Gulf's rising disposable incomes, and expensive tastes. Claire Ferris-Lay speaks to company president Nicolas Topiol, and finds out why haute couture means big business.

Christian Lacroix's design credits have included the uniforms of Air France cabin crew and Christina Aguilera's wedding dress. Now the French couturier is eyeing clientele in the Gulf, where rising incomes are helping to boost profits at the exclusive label.

When a company announces a 40% increase in sales, it's usually something to shout about. That is, of course, unless you are Nicolas Topiol, president of French fashion house, Christian Lacroix.

"We don't like to give numbers," he tells Arabian Business. "The business today is in a much healthier state than it was three years ago in terms of strategy and brand positioning," he adds, without revealing details about the financial performance of the haute couture line, the exclusive custom-fitted clothing business Lacroix is most famed for.

"A few years ago it may have been considered a little old fashioned but it certainly isn't today. In fact it really is quite the opposite.

One region where haute couture hasn't lost any of its fashion appeal is the Middle East, where the Christian Lacroix stores are to be found in the UAE, Qatar, Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The booming economies of the Gulf states has seen disposable incomes surge among the label's exclusive market, who can afford to pay between US$29,000 and US$58,500 for a single garment.

Topiol cites the company's recent successful sales as evidence of a resurgence of new clientele discovering the history behind the label.

"[The successful sales] are a reflection of our existing clientele and clients who are discovering haute couture for its heritage, craft and the exclusivity of the garment that Lacroix designs. We create an art," says Topiol.

The Lacroix president talks to Arabian Business just hours before Christian Lacroix's fashion show, the couture house's fourth show in Dubai and notably Topiol's debut visit in the city.

Surrounded by impossibly tall models, hair and make-up artists all flown over from Europe especially for the fourth Dubai Fashion Week show, Topiol says the region represents an important area of growth.

The fashion house currently has two company owned boutiques in Paris, one clearance outlet outside of Paris, a recently opened one in New York and one in Las Vegas. Of the 23 freestanding franchise boutiques around the world, seven are in the Middle East in addition to six in Argentina and five each in Japan and France.

Although the Dubai Fashion Week event represents the fourth time the label has shown in the region, Topiol does not consider the Middle East as an emerging market for the brand. Lacroix, established in 1987, has long been a favourite fashion house for women in the region who typically have the disposable income required to be buyers of haute couture garments.

We have had haute couture clients from the Middle East for some time and I think that's similar for other houses. We have found more and more clients and now we are dressing the daughters of our original clients which is really wonderful. We like the continuity of the relationship between our customers.