Not haute: Meet the women making couture count in Australia
Couture has acquired a misleading, rarefied reputation due to its frequent association with the French word haute.
Haute couture, roughly translated to “high sewing”, is the pinnacle of luxury fashion, where dresses and suits stretch (without the assistance of Lycra) from the tens of thousands to millions of dollars.
According to the powerful Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, French fashion’s governing body, a label qualifies as haute couture if it has a workshop in Paris of at least 15 full-time staff. Labels such as Chanel, Dior, Schiaparelli and Givenchy make the cut.
Melbourne couturier Kara Baker in her Melbourne studio.Credit: Photograph by Chris Hopkins
Drop the haute like a hot baguette and a humble couturier can be as far from the Eiffel Tower as Sydney or Melbourne, working on their own at the sewing machine or with a handful of assistants. You can also expect their prices to drop a zero or two from the end.
From her Bohemian salon on Bourke Street in Melbourne, with the tower of the GPO standing in for the Eiffel Tower, Kara Baker dresses a clientele committed to quality craftsmanship, luxurious fabrics and an experience that transcends online checkouts and fast fashion.
“Women very rarely forget their first time,” Baker says. “Even if they’re a standard size, but especially when they’re tall or petite. It’s a revelation when they see how good they look in something that fits properly.
“Then, if I’m lucky, they get addicted and come back.”
A veteran of the Melbourne fashion scene, with her label Sirens appearing on the Fashion Design Council’s runway alongside the elegant silhouettes of Martin Grant and chaotic ebullience of Jenny Bannister’s dresses in the eighties, Baker made the shift to couture 15 years ago.
“In the wholesale business, you just signed a docket for the courier to dispatch, you never had any relationship or understanding of who was buying your clothes,” Baker says.
“I wanted to do things differently.”
Kara Baker creations on the runway at the Melbourne Fashion Festival, Royal Exhibition Building, February 2025.Credit: Getty Images
Baker’s sophisticated day wear, with reversible jackets in feel-me brocades and cocoon sleeve sweaters, alongside her signature Talitha dresses with deliberately clashing European fabrics uniting for original results, has attracted a committed clientele.
Baker is coy about the prices of her dresses and how long they take to complete: “I have some trade secrets, but some are still cheaper than some at Scanlan Theodore,” where a sequin dress costs $2400. A pair of pants can cost between $600 and $700.
The prices haven’t stopped around 70 regular customers seeking her services, including communications professional Susan Wright.
“I met Kara through work, and it took me time to build up the courage to see her as a client,” Wright says. “It can be an intimidating experience.”
“I initially went to get some outfits for a series of friends’ birthday parties. Ten years later, 80 per cent of my wardrobe is from Kara.”
Wright immediately felt comfortable with the couture process, which can take a number of fittings and weeks to receive a garment.
“In some ways, you’re giving yourself over to them,” Wright says. “It’s become a significant relationship in my life. My husband will say, ‘Oh, you’re off to see Kara,’ like it’s a love affair.
“Her clothes give me confidence. I know that I will never see another woman wearing the same outfit when I walk into a meeting or an event. You carry yourself differently.”
Baker’s business is a Melbourne secret, with most customers introduced by word of mouth from existing clients. In Sydney, the work of couturier Nicky Apostolopoulos is loud and proud, with her label Velani regularly rolling off the lips of stylists who dress stars on the red carpet at the Aria Awards and Logies.
On the day of our interview, the Logies nominees have just been announced, but Apostolopoulos is already working on dresses for potential winners. “I have my ways of finding these things out,” Apostolopoulos says. “I’ve been booked out for the Logies since March.”
Nicky Apostolopoulos with a gown in the studio for her label Velani in Five Dock, Sydney.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
For 30 years, customers have visited the Velani studio in Five Dock for a personal service and the comfort of knowing that they will be the only person wearing one of her dresses at weddings and black tie events. That sense of security comes at a price, with a Velani day dress starting at around $4000 and evening wear spanning from $6000 to $13,000. Most dresses cost $8000.
“There are plenty of women who want something special that no one else is going to have on,” Apostolopoulos says. “But many women just can’t find anything off the rack, especially with labels dropping their size 16 offering. We can make something that fits a woman and still makes her feel special.”
Along with dressing celebrities, Apostolopoulos has 20 regular customers who get priority treatment, but their names are tied up with non-disclosure agreements. Couture dressing is a serious business. Unfortunately, Baker and Apostolopoulos both agree that the work of couturiers is not always taken seriously by the broader Australian fashion community.
“We are excluded from the main fashion community,” Apostolopoulos says. “There were once events that celebrated our work and the effort. Now it’s impossible to be a part of things like Australian Fashion Week. It’s more mainstream.”
Velani creations worn by (from left) Van-Anh at the 2024 Aria Awards, Channel 10 presenter Angela Bishop at the 2024 Logies and Miranda Cross with partner Cameron Murray at the 2024 Dally M Awards.Credit: Getty Images
Baker took part in this year’s Melbourne Fashion Festival for the thrill of seeing her clothes on the runway, but didn’t expect any sales from the experience.
“It’s a different world out there today,” Baker says. “Most fast fashion is made using light fabrics to save on freight. That’s why everyone walks around looking like they’re dressed in rags. I don’t think young people notice that, and also I don’t think they really care.”
Instead, couture is for the select few, like Wright, who see it as a worthwhile investment in clothes that stand the test of time. It’s a rare luxury that is about value.
“No one’s husband is paying the bill,” Baker says. “My customers are women investing in themselves.”
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