Who Is Mouna Ayoub? The Couture Queen Who Recently Auctioned A €312,000 Chanel Coat
When it comes to fashion as a vocation, you would be remiss to forget Mouna Ayoub
Who Is Mouna Ayoub? The Couture Queen Who Recently Auctioned A €312,000 Chanel Coat…
Mouna Ayoub is widely referred to as the Couture Queen, with her profound passion for high fashion vividly expressed through her meticulously curated haute couture collection. Impeccably cataloged, this collection stands unrivalled, recently spotlighted by the unveiling of her remarkable 280-piece Chanel Haute Couture caspule. The collection made headlines by setting records, particularly with the Coromandel evening coat, the star piece, selling for an impressive €312,000. This sale underscores its significance as a truly remarkable fashion item.
Who is Mona Ayoub?
Mouna Ayoub stands as a significant figure in the world of high fashion and luxury. As a Lebanese socialite and influential patron of haute couture, she passionately advocates for its preservation. Her decision to auction her curated collection is rooted in a desire to share her love and appreciation for the art of couture with a new audience of collectors. Currently residing in Monaco, garments that overspill from the residence find a secure haven in a home in a high-security village, Braslou, France, where they are preserved meticulously, shielded from light, dust, moths, and humidity.
What is Haute Couture?
There exists a whole world attached to the term Haute Couture. The honour of couturier status, french for high dressmaking, is a legally protected and its definition governed by the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Paris. The Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture serves as the regulating commission responsible for determining which fashion houses meet the criteria to be recognised as true haute couture houses, and must follow specific rules.
Among the 17 esteemed members of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, Rabih Kayrouz stands as the sole Arab official member, having joined this prestigious association in 2018.
In fact many fashion houses craft mannequins mirroring Mouna’s measurements, ensuring precise tailoring in her absence.
What is special about the €312,000 Coat?
Mouna Ayoub was a life long friend of Chanel’s Creative Director Karl Legafeld. This enduring bond is epitomised by the 252 haute couture garments, tangible evidence of their close connection, with many of them never gracing the light of day. Explaining to Women’s Wear Daily that “They don’t fit anymore…I want the younger generation, unaware of Karl, to own, wear, and cherish these haute couture pieces—most, untouched”
The star of the auction was the Coromandel evening coat embroidered by Lesage, for Fall-Winter 1996-1997. The construction of the coat took 135 hours, followed by an additional 800 hours for the Lesage embroidery. As a true work of art, identical coats have been part of the MET Costume Institute’s Chanel exhibition in 2005, China Through the Looking Glass in 2015, and most recently, in the 2023 MET Gala En Memoriam exhibition theme titles Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.
The coat sold for €312,000 (1.25 Million Dhs), in the auction titles: The Golden Years of Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel From the Mouna Ayoub Haute Couture Collection. It was joined by the Spring-Summer 1992 Chain Dress that was famously modelled by Christy Turlington, then worn by Penelope Cruz in ‘Broken Embraces‘ (2009), and former Chanel Bride Lily Rose Depp when she attended the Camp: Notes on Fashion MET Gala in 2019. Further proof that Mouna Ayoub may be one of the most important Haute Couture curators of the 20th and 21st Century, and the best shopper of all time (in my opinion).
Lead Image Courtesy of Maurice Auction via @maurice_auction on Instagram.