The only thing more elusive than the price of couture is the question of who, exactly, is buying it. In W’s March 1999 issue Juergen Teller photographed a story called “The Clients.” Dennis Freedman, W’s Creative Director at the time, had asked him to shoot the couture collections, and Teller decided to photograph the clothes on actual clients—including Marie-Chantal of Greece, Ann Getty, and Deeda Blair. For our Originals Issue, W Editor in Chief Sara Moonves asked Teller to revisit the portfolio. At the July couture shows, he shot the new generation of couture clients, from Princess Olympia of Greece (the daughter of Marie-Chantal) and Ivy Getty (the granddaughter of Ann) to Alexa Dell (of the technology conglomerate). Below, 11 patrons explain why they buy couture.
Ivy Getty
Ivy Getty wears a Maison Margiela Artisanal dress and mask.
Can you see out of that mask?
You can, but not enough where I’m like, Oh, that’s how the models walked. This is part of couture— it’s not meant to be easy to wear. You’re doing it for fashion.
When did you start going to shows?
My first ready-to-wear Fashion Week ever was in 2015. It was Paris, and I was with my grandma [philanthropist and fashion darling Ann Getty]. For couture, I think it was with the photographer Ellen von Unwerth in 2021. I was very excited that Ellen wanted to go with me to the Giambattista Valli show. Right before it, she came to my room and was like, “Let’s have a photo shoot right now.” A couple months later, she said, “Are you coming to the dinner tonight?” I was like, “What dinner?” She was like, “For the magazine cover.” She put me on the cover of her magazine and didn’t even tell me!
Do you have a group of couture friends?
You get to know people—I used to think maybe these are my fashion friends, but these really are your friends. I get FOMO when I miss couture, obviously because of the shows, but I get FOMO from seeing my friends all together.
A few years ago, John Galliano made you a couture wedding gown. What was it like working with him?
He understands people very quickly—he’ll know me better than I know myself when making any decision. He finds inspiration in literally a crack in the sidewalk. It’s something I won’t ever understand, but it’s like whatever Albert Einstein had with math.
Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and Denmark
Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and Denmark wears a Dior Haute Couture dress; Dior High Jewelry necklace; Manolo Blahnik shoes.
What was your first couture show?
When I was 10 years old, I went to the 45th anniversary Valentino couture show in Rome. I sat on my dad’s lap. I ended up interning for Dior when I was 17. After that, I started attending shows on my own.
In 1999, Juergen Teller did a photo series for W similar to this one, and your mom, Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess of Greece, was in it. Have you seen that photo?
It’s in New York in her bedroom. A couple days before I got the email about this shoot, I was standing in the room staring at the portrait, like, God, that really just is one of the coolest photos in the whole world. I would do anything to be shot by him.
Does she still have the feathered Balmain by Oscar de la Renta gown she wore in her portrait?
I’m going to text her right now.... She says, “Hmm, I think I do :)”
Do you get her couture hand- me-downs?
During Covid, I was in the English countryside with my mother. There was a room in the attic. I thought it was a storage space for furniture. I was bored, and I saw it unlocked. I found my mother’s couture dresses. I was like, How has she been hiding this from me for so long?
A few people have described couture as a club. Is that true?
You’re literally so right. The shows are like going back to summer camp or something.
Claire Paull
Claire Paull wears a Dior Haute Couture dress; Dior High Jewelry earrings, necklace, and ring.
Your job is far from the fashion world—you’re the vice president of global marketing at Amazon Ads. How did you get into couture?
My mother had a really beautiful wardrobe. She would always wear Chanel and St. John. I spent a lot of time in her closet, daydreaming. She would say, “You can have all these things Mommy has—you could have even better—but you have to work.” I often tease that when I’m 85 years old and no longer working at Amazon, I’ll be an intern for Chanel or Dior.
Are you the best-dressed Amazon employee?
It’s a tech company. People wear jeans, and it’s very casual. I dress. I often wear a long Dior skirt, a T-shirt, slingbacks, and a cardigan. Or I will wear jeans and a Chanel or Dior sweater.
You live in New York—how often do you make it to the Paris couture shows?
It comes down to what I can make happen. Last July, I was sitting in a conference room in Seattle, and I got a text from Dior: “Claire, will you please come to couture?” All I wanted was to make that happen. Then I remembered: Claire, you shouldn’t. You’re going to have to miss a bunch of things for work.
What’s your favorite piece in your collection?
I think I’m going to order this Dior red dress. If I already owned it, that would be the answer.
Christine Chiu
Christine Chiu wears a Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda blouse, bra, skirt, earrings, necklace, belt, veil, tights, and shoes.
You starred in and coproduced Bling Empire, a reality show about wealthy Asian Americans in Los Angeles. On the show, people got a glimpse of your couture trove.
My dad was a huge Issey Miyake and Armani collector. He put me in Issey Miyake—they don’t make children’s wear, but he would have womenswear cut to my proportions. All I wanted to wear were pretty pink dresses and tutus. I was fortunate enough to marry a man who wanted me to tap into that part of my imagination and creativity. You have to ease into couture. I started with the shoes and accessories. We’re talking about a $40,000 belt and $25,000 boots.
How big is your collection?
I’ve been buying since I was 25, maybe 26. Now I’m 42. I’ve never had a season where I haven’t purchased something.
What’s your favorite piece?
My favorite piece I haven’t worn is a Dior gold house. They were renovating their maison on Avenue Montaigne, and they decided to make a gold human-size replica. I saw it, and I was like, Yes, I have to have that. It’s light enough to walk around in—it’s not solid gold.
What couture etiquette have you learned?
As someone who was a first-generation haute couture buyer at 25, I definitely did not say the right things. My first big faux pas was asking what the price was. There was silence. You could see color drain from faces in shock. You ask for “information,” and they prepare a whole packet. Chanel had tweed portfolios with inserts, and at the bottom was the price in calligraphy. You’re supposed to delicately say, “I would like to discover more information.”
I heard you once bought a Dolce & Gabbana couture dress, and they made you a couture padded booty short to go underneath it.
My husband is a plastic surgeon, so it’s ironic. Surgically, he can help create whatever silhouette I envision for myself, but couture can do the same thing.
Cecily Waud
Cecily Waud wears a Chanel Haute Couture coat, dress, and boots; her own jewelry.
You work in interior design and, as you described it, formerly did “diplomatic stuff.” When did you get into couture?
When I was really young, with my mom, mainly at Dior. Over the years, you get to know everybody. I started being invited to the couture shows before I bought couture, actually.
What was your first couture piece?
I was married before, and Maria Grazia Chiuri at Dior did my wedding dress. I rewore the dress for Chiuri’s last show for Dior because all the women had to wear white. A lot of us decided to rewear the wedding dresses she’d made us.
Do you still do shows and appointments with your mom?
I’ll FaceTime her. If she doesn’t like something, she’ll say, “No, we’re not paying for that, sweetie.”
Have you purchased any couture recently?
My family’s color is lavender. I just had a Chanel jacket made, and they did lavender stitching. Their buttons are the most fun thing to pick, ever. They have the biggest selection of the craziest buttons. But they didn’t have one that worked out of, like, 30,000 buttons. I wanted a super light lavender one with a gold star in the middle.
How different are ready-to-wear and couture shows?
Ready-to-wear shows are just such zoos. With couture, it feels a lot more intimate. It’s not Instagram models trying to get a shot to be like, “I came to the show.” Couture is more like going to an art gallery.
Alexa Dell
Alexa Dell wears a Schiaparelli Haute Couture dress.
You come from the tech world—your dad, Michael Dell, started Dell Technologies, and you’ve had a few tech-focused jobs. When did you get into buying couture?
I’m new to collecting and have two pieces so far. The first is my Schiaparelli wedding gown. From September 2024 to March 2025, the dress traveled as much as I did: a muslin fitting in Los Angeles; two fittings at Place Vendôme, in Paris; and a final session back in L.A., where the atelier stitched my name into the lining. The second is from Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture by Ludovic de Saint Sernin—the “sand” dress I wore during the wedding weekend.
Will you wear them again?
They’re meant to live, not hide in storage. The Schiaparelli bodice could pair with vintage jeans, and the skirt with a simple tank for an anniversary dinner someday.
How quickly do you know which garments you want?
I can usually trust my first reaction.
Lauren Amos
Lauren Amos wears a Balenciaga Couture jacket, skirt, belt, gloves, and bag.
You’ve been buying experimental fashion for your Atlanta boutiques, Wish and Antidote, since 2004. When did you start personally collecting couture?
I got into couture through Iris van Herpen. I’m on the board of the High Museum of Art, in Atlanta. We brought her in for her first exhibition in America in 2015, and she let me borrow a dress—I ended up buying it. It’s a jump going from ready-to-wear to couture. But she was young in her career, and I knew I was supporting an artist.
How long have you been buying Balenciaga couture?
When Demna came in, I was like, What is this situation? I was obsessed. Then I got really irritated with some of the designs. I felt like, Is someone making fun of me? Are they in a boardroom like, “Hahaha, look at this girl. She spent $5,000 on a polyester dress?” But the things I’m challenged by the most are the things with which I end up having the biggest love affair. Then I got invited to my first couture show—I think it was Demna’s first, too. I remember thinking, Oh my god, this is incredible. I walked my way right into an appointment to buy.
How many fittings are usually required for a couture piece?
Well, Iris has a 3D rendering of my body. We have a mannequin for me at the atelier.
Do you reserve your couture pieces for special occasions?
I’ve worn a couture piece to work before. I try to not put anything on too high a pedestal.
How do you store the garments?
Someone keeps all of my stuff in L.A. I’m a steward of the pieces. I have a responsibility to take care of them, and I have five cats.
Natasha Poonawalla
Natasha Poonawalla wears an Iris van Herpen Haute Couture dress; Rombaut for Iris van Herpen Haute Couture shoes; her own jewelry.
You and your family work in biotechnology: Your husband is the CEO of the Serum Institute of India, the country’s largest vaccine manufacturer, which your father-in-law founded. Now you’re the executive director of the company. But you’re also known as a fixture on the couture circuit.
In India, the idea of customization and craftsmanship is deeply embedded in our culture. One of my first formal purchases was for my wedding: a couture gown by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, for our reception in India.
Do you rewear pieces?
Absolutely. That’s the beauty of couture: You buy less, you buy well, and you celebrate the artistry behind it. One of my favorite mix-and-match moments was pairing a Schiaparelli bustier with a Sabyasachi sari dripping with Indian jewels. Whimsical fashion and beautiful things are mood elevators—and sometimes conversation starters, too.
How much do you tweak the runway designs?
Sometimes I have a clear vision—usually a version of the runway piece tailored to better suit my body— but it’s always the designer’s creation. I see myself as a collaborator, not a codesigner.
Allison Sarofim
Allison Sarofim wears a Giambattista Valli Haute Couture bustier gown; Graff High Jewellery earrings, necklace, and ring.
Although you were born and raised in Houston—and spend a lot of time on Oahu, where you developed your beauty line, Loulu Hawai’i—you’re known for throwing the most fashionable Halloween party in Manhattan, which sometimes involves couture costumes. When did you start buying couture?
I’m dear friends with Giambattista Valli, and I was at his first couture show, in 2011. I’ve worn his designs for years to the Met Gala and to my Halloween parties. There may have been a custom cat tail involved when I was Pussy Couture—after the James Bond character Pussy Galore.
What’s the fitting process like for a couture garment?
Luckily, I fit into most of the sample pieces. Giamba will change, like, 2 millimeters on the neck. I’m very short-waisted—the waistlines are a little too long on me, but the hem isn’t. You have to change the waistline, not the hemline. It’s little things like that that make couture very different.
Where do you keep your couture?
I donate most of my pieces back to the designers for their archives. The Matières Fécales suit I wore to this year’s Met Gala is on a mannequin on display in my closet. It’s like the portrait of Dorian Gray in the attic!
Hayley Sullivan
Hayley Sullivan wears a Viktor & Rolf Haute Couture coat; Manolo Blahnik shoes; her own earrings.
In January, you married Deven Marrero, a former MLB player, and wore multiple Dior couture garments for the festivities. Why Dior?
I met with several different houses, and each house came back with some preliminary drawings. Dior just really felt like they zoomed into my soul and saw me. My dress came on a mannequin in a 10-foot-tall box. My mom was like, “How are we going to get this in the house?” Once you understand the craftsmanship and the art behind couture, then you’re like, Well, here I am. Can’t turn back the clock. It’s also part of my professional life as the founder of the Styled by Collective. So I have an easier time justifying being a couture client. We’re not buying fast fashion that ends up in landfills, which is horrible for the environment and in terms of labor laws.
What’s your approach to buying?
These are things that I actually want to live my life in. How you dress is the corporeal experience of your personality and who you are.
Houses typically make one couture garment per continent. How quickly do you have to claim a piece?
I’ve had it happen where I tried something on and I loved it. I needed to think about it—it was early in Couture Week, and I was like, I’m not ready to put the deposit down. Twenty-four hours later, it was gone.
Jordan Roth
Jordan Roth wears a Giorgio Armani Privé jacket; Boucheron headpiece and brooch.
For decades, you’ve been a Broadway theater producer. Your well-documented wardrobe is very theatrical too.
Fashion has always been a vocabulary for me. Couture is the fantasy, that glorious gown on a hill. But it was meant for bodies that didn’t look like mine. It wasn’t until Clare Waight Keller at Givenchy showed men’s couture that I felt invited. I went to the salon to see the first Givenchy pieces, and, my god, going to a couture salon is like the doors of heaven have opened.
Did you buy anything from that collection?
I saw this blouse, impeccably pleated chiffon that hung in an X formation across the body. I thought, Well, that’s the angel. I was a few months away from opening the Broadway revival of Angels in America that I coproduced, and I said, “I’m going to wear that.” In true couture magic, they proposed embroidering feathers on the collar. It’s a two-part play, seven hours in total. The entire time, I sat at the edge of my seat with my back off the chair so that I would not crease this magnificent crepe chiffon.
What’s it like working with the ateliers on garments?
My first several couture pieces were made for special experiences in my life. They would start with something I wanted to express about an event. Often, that would manifest as text I would write to become a vision-slash–mission statement of the piece. And I’d bring that to the right designer to explore the idea.
Has buying couture changed the way you dress generally?
Oh, yes. It’s a constant expanding of the canvas, of the possibilities. Watching it be created is the daily affirmation that anything we imagine can be made real. It’s the unboundedness, the belief in the impossible.
Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and Denmark: Hair by Patrick Wilson for Oribe at the Wall Group; makeup by Tobi Henney for Mac Cosmetics at the Wall Group. On-set grooming for all talent: Gor Duryan at Agence Saint Germain Paris. Produced by Cinq Étoiles Productions; producer: Lucas Lechevalier; production manager: Jonathan Arapis; first photo assistant: Felipe Chaves; postproduction: Louwre Erasmus at Quickfix; fashion assistant: Mei Ling Cooper; production assistant: Louisa Kocher; tailor: Charline Gentilhomme at the Tailor Team.
