Couture is latest fashion victim

IT’S enough to make Coco Chanel turn in her grave. Just three decades after the queen of chic stalked off to the great cat-walk in the sky, haute couture is following hot on her heels.

A mere nine couture collections were unveiled at the Paris fashion show this week - less than half the number that exhibited in the French capital in 1987.

And for those who love the exclusivity of the twice-yearly event which offers them one-off handmade designs costing up to €500,000 a throw, things are about to get worse.