Would you pay close to $20,000 for a haute couture John Galliano gown that was worn only once? With the rise of high-end fashion auctions, a new breed of collector is more than willing to pay that price to snap up a rare piece like this. In fact, in certain well-heeled international circles, winning a bidding war on a historically significant ensemble or one-of-a-kind museum-worthy piece has become a kind of high-stakes sartorial sport.
Case in point: On June 27, fashion lovers from around the world descended on the venerable Hôtel Drouot on the Rive Droite in Paris. The occasion? Maurice Auction was holding a swoon-worthy sale in the middle of fashion week. Produced in collaboration with Kerry Taylor Auctions in London, the highly anticipated sale included a treasure trove of covetable items culled from the private closets of some of the globe’s top fashion collectors, including Chanel couture dresses, Yves Saint Laurent coats and Hermès crocodile bags. Roughly 1,000 people registered to bid in person, online or on the phone. They saved the star lot for last: an iconic Galliano gown that sold for €19,500, close to early estimates.
It was purchased over the phone by an important international collector, not to be worn but to be exhibited someday.
Photography by George Mavrikos
Welcome to the rarified world of elite fashion auctions. Sotheby’s in London turned heads in September 2023 with their inaugural Fashion Icons sale. Here, Princess Diana’s ‘sheep’ sweater by Warm & Wonderful sold for a record $1.1 million. Following that success, a second Fashion Icons sale is slated for 2024 with haute couture pieces by Christian Dior and Elsa Schiaparelli. Not to be outdone, Christie’s in Paris scored a coup in January 2023 by offering a once-in-a-lifetime sale with the private collection of legendary French vintage fashion dealer Didier Ludot. That same month, they also held a global auction entitled “The V.W.S. Collection – From Beijing to Versailles,” in which a staggering 115 haute couture pieces went up for sale. Then, in June 2024, Christie’s auctioned off the private collection of British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood — taking in £754,000 and selling out every single lot.
“Fashion is becoming a genuine field of collection with very wealthy clients buying to collect, possibly resell one day, and wear,” explains Salomé Pirson, co-founder of Maurice Auction in Paris, one of the go-to houses for vintage style lovers. “Auctions have become more accessible and frequent, with a broader range of items on offer, from classic couture gowns to rare vintage accessories.”
Pirson and Marie-Laurence Tixier started Maurice Auction in 2022 after both women left their jobs at larger auction houses. They could see burgeoning interest in the category and wanted to cater to these savvy clients. According to Pirson, social media has helped feed the trend, as have live auctions. Now, with the push of a button, buyers can bid online worldwide. “Haute couture has the advantage of being rare. If an owner has carefully preserved a haute couture garment, it can resell very well,” Pirson points out. “This audience can include institutions and luxury fashion houses that repurchase vintage pieces for heritage purposes.”
Perhaps even more interesting than the buyers of these extraordinary pieces are the sellers. After all, what motivates a collector to buy an expensive designer dress, wear it only once, hold onto it for 24 years and then finally decide to sell it at auction? In an exclusive interview with Artful Living, the seller of the Galliano gown, who prefers to remain anonymous, explains why she wore it only once. “I couldn’t recreate the happiness I experienced that day, so I wanted to leave it intact.” At one point, in the nearly two-and-a half decades she held onto the dress, she harbored the hope of bequeathing the prized possession to a daughter or granddaughter. But she eventually realized the time had come to part with the dress. “[In the end], I don’t have a daughter or a granddaughter — I have a son who is still unmarried!” And while she admits it was a difficult decision to sell it, she believes “this unique piece deserves to live again under the lights.”
