The designer was expelled from the Chambre Syndicale — the monitoring body of Haute Couture in Paris — for launching a ready-to-wear collection in 1959, but was soon reinstated.

One was that haute couture, hitherto available only to the very rich or vicariously through magazines and newspapers, should be sold worldwide in ready-to-wear shops at a fraction of the posh price.

Supermodels in haute couture garments strutted across opera foyers, uninterested expressions and blasé attitudes adding to the exclusivity of the space.