Spring/summer 2021 was a couture season like none other. The jet-setting members of fashion’s front row have had their routines upended over the past year, viewing the collection via laptop. More than a series of appointments, couture is a social experience connecting brands and clients for intimate fashion moments that bolster the industry’s most valuable artform. Sure, ready-to-wear is nice, but nothing compares with taking in the haute couture collections.
For those who fill their archives with museum-worthy pieces, couture’s significance goes beyond what can be glimpsed in a photograph or Livestream. “What a lot of people don’t understand is that it’s not about labels,” shared collector Christine Chiu on the phone from Los Angeles. “My fascination with it comes from a place of respect and admiration. Couture is art, one that allows you to live out your dreams while you’re experiencing the pinnacle of creativity.”
If you’ve been binging Bling Empire on Netflix, you have Chiu to thank for your winter escapism. Chiu’s storyline provides much of season one’s drama—the central element of any reality TV experience—and she’s emerged as its glamorous antiheroine. And with spats over Mellerio vs Boucheron, in-depth discussions about accessories, and an overarching focus on the importance of style as both a signifier of status and tool for expression, Bling Empire is intrinsically linked to fashion. “The draw is the bling, flash, and all the superficiality, but the goal is to start a dialogue around these characters,” says Chiu. “One of the things I’m proud of about this project is that we’re showing how television can be interesting without flipping tables or hitting below the belt. I make fun of myself in some scenes, but people understand it’s for entertainment value. We always show just enough to get viewers hooked.”
Though audiences saw glimpses of Chiu’s life as a mother to son, Gabriel (aka Baby G.) and entrepreneur (she is co-founder of med-spa Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery), you can only fit so much into an episodic format. Her expansive archive of runway fare and knowledge on the subject, goes beyond what she wears on screen. A collector for more than a decade, she’s picked up surrealist numbers like a wearable, 24-carat-gold rendering of Dior’s atelier created in collaboration with artist Penny Slinger as well as sculptural Atelier Versace gowns with mile-long trains. “I’ve undergone a clear shift from buying things I look good in or simply want to wear, to buying pieces that can eventually become part of a museum collection,” says Chiu. “The reason I bought the Dior house instead of a beautiful gown or one of the sexy lace looks within the fall/winter 2019 collection is because they’re currently renovating the house on Avenue Montaigne, and that is a place we all remember and have great memories of over the years. I don’t know if I’ll ever wear it, but it represents a part of fashion history.”
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