Given that most luxury houses make the most of their profits not through clothes but through handbags, wallets and perfume, does the glory justify the expense and hours of labour?

The couture houses will argue that it does. Until recently, couture clothing was only really visible to the masses during awards season; think of Angelina’s leg and its attendant Versace dress at the Oscars or Jennifer Lawrence pratfalling in Dior. But in the age of social media, when the day’s most fantastical images are hashtagged and tweeted and instagrammed around the world, the sparkle and glamour created by couture shows has an ever greater footprint. And so couture has become ever more likely to spark trends.

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The Versace show at Paris Haute Couture fashion week