“We don't have the skills to become a big brand company that sells perfume all over — but that is not our spirit,” said Ms. Costa-Webster. “I hate the idea that you can find everything everywhere in the world. I think people like the fact that we are still special.”

— Agnès Costa-Webster of Fragonard talks to the New York Times about the historic perfumery founded by her grandfather, Eugène Fuchs.

John Galliano’s show for Dior, held in the Orangery at the Palace of Versailles, showed the problem at its most extreme. A tribute to 60 years of the fashion house, it was a magnificent spectacle, but there was nothing on the catwalk that any woman could actually wear [...] The enormous cost will be absorbed by the millions of consumers who purchase the make-up, fragrance, tights and so on that bear the Dior name.

— Columnist Colin McDowell talks about the "problem" of couture in the UK Times Online.