City of lights sparkles even more than usual during haute couture week

With this season marking the first time that jewelry brands such as Boucheron, Chaumet, and Cartier are an official part of Paris haute couture week, designer Alexandre Vauthier got inspired by the glitz and glamour of the city's traditional square of jewelers.

"This elegance, pushed to the maximum, is an homage to Place Vendôme and its jewelers," the designer told Relaxnews before his show during haute couture week.

The opulent necklaces and cuffs made of sapphires, rubies, and emeralds together with feminine materials including silk jersey, embroidered tulle, and muslin were juxtaposed with the currently so popular power silhouettes, inspired by the bold shoulder trend of the 1990s.

But who is the intended clientele of these high-carat creations and what is haute couture's place during economically tough times? "Everything is possible in couture," Vauthier said. "I believe that infinite luxury, a pairing of evident elegance and a certain confidentiality, will be making a comeback."

According to luxury consultants and some designers Relaxnews spoke to, most current buyers of the one-off couture creations are based in the Middle East, but China is expected to emerge as the biggest market for these clothes in the future.

Vauthier's most prominent clients include fashion-forward singers Roisin Murphy, who described the designer's aesthetic as 'radical chic,' and Rihanna.