Similar Stories to Paris Fashion Week Shifts Up Into Haute Couture Mode on Bing News

Paris (AFP) - After days of men's ready-to-wear clothes, Paris Fashion Week shifts up a gear on Sunday to its marquee event: the Haute Couture shows that happen only in the French capital.Italian house Versace will be the first to step into the prestige whirl of handmade women's collections for spring-summer 2015.In all, 24 catwalk shows, including ones by Chanel, Christian Dior and Valentino, are to take place in coming days, filling palaces, museums and more offbeat venues in Paris with celebrities, journalists and the extremely wealthy women who can afford the creations whose price tags run into tens of thousands of euros (dollars). France is the only country to boast Haute Couture, twice a year, in January and in July.The designation is protected by French law and attributed exclusively by the ministry of industry.Houses -- French and non-French -- that win the label have to show their high-end clothes are entirely made by hand and tailored to each client.Only 14 outlets are allowed to say they are full-fledged Haute Couture, most of them highly recognisable French designers.The most recent to be admitted into the very exclusive club is Alexandre Vauthier, which counts pop divas Rihanna and Beyonce among its fans.Many other wannabes are lined up hoping to get in.Some of the other shows happening in Paris are by fashion houses that have achieved an intermediate status, or which have been invited on a temporary basis.