Meet couture designers

Every January and July, more than 30 designers gather at Haute Couture Week in Paris to show their collections. However, less than half of the designers are permanent and full members of the French Designers Guild.

The rest are "guest members", such as Valentino and Elie Saab, which produce couture outside Paris, and "guest members", Guest guests this season include American ready-to-wear label Proenza Schouler and experimental Dutch designer Iris van Herpen.

Below, meet the leaders of 14 officially certified French haute couture houses.

Born in French Equatorial Africa, Andre studied at the Haute Couture School in Paris, where she studied in Salvador Dali's studio. After graduation, she joined Marc Bohan's team at Dior.

In 1981, she founded her own brand with Hungarian architect Istvan Dohar, and her brand is full of rich colors, fluid contours, and a design that has been registered as a patent for three armholes.

AlexandreVauthier

Born in Alen, France, Vauthier is an ESMOD graduate who worked for Thierry Mugler and later became studio director for Jean Paul Gaultier. In 2009, he launched his own eponymous brand.

After showing just one collection as a guest designer, he was admitted as a permanent member of the French Haute Couture Guild in 2014.

AlexisMabille

The Lyon native designed jewelry and accessories under John Galliano and Hedi Slimane during the Dior era. In 2012, he became a permanent member of the French Haute Couture Association.

The contemporary dapper is a big fan of bows, and in 2005, he launched a bow collection, using more than 1,500 bows in his first haute couture collection.

Chanel

Chanel was founded in 1910 as a millinery shop called "ChanelModes", after which founder Gabrielle Coco Chanel opened the first haute couture workshop in Biarritz, France, in 1915, but it was shut down after her death in 1971.

It was "reborn" by designer Karl Lagerfeld in 1983 and today employs 120 full-time seamstresses specialising in haute couture.

Christian Dior

ChristianDior launched his eponymous label in 1947 with a "New look," single-handing designs such as corsets that promoted a return to romantic, pre-war femininity and successfully reinvented Paris as a post-World War II fashion hub.

Today, the house is headed by former Valentino designer Maria Grazia Chiuri, who is the first woman to lead the house after five consecutive male designers.