The motto of haute couture has always been one of freedom, fantasy and beauty. A world where handmade dresses of fine silk are embellished with jewels, where an exquisite corsage will take hours to make, where exotic muses guide designers' hands.

Haute couture is an area of fashion where designers - unfettered by practicality or price - find their most flamboyant expression. For John Galliano at Dior, that meant a vision of Sissi, empress Elizabeth of Austria, in jewel-coloured, corseted mermaid gowns and lavish embroideries; for Jean Paul Gaultier; swaggering musketeers in draped chiffon and sequined capes. Fashion is intimately entwined with fantasy, whether it's a bejewelled shoe or a couture gown. Long live their imagination.