For many people, a wedding dress or suit will be the most expensive fashion purchase of their life.
The gown to end all wedding budgets was unveiled at Paris Haute Couture Week, as Egyptian brand Hany El Behairy closed its show with a $15 million wedding dress covered in diamonds and gems.
The couture brand showcased its 2020 collection at the Oriental Fashion Show on January 2020.
Fittingly held at the Louvre, the dress was nothing short of a work of art as a model walked the runway in an elaborately detailed plunging wedding dress, complete with a power veil covered in real diamonds and precious stones.
The designer shared a close up video of the dress, which focused on the intricate diamond-studded pattern.
When asked how the model felt about wearing it, she replied that it was a “grand moment.”
According to the brand, the dress is the third most expensive haute couture dress in the world.
The number one spot is taken by a $30 million dress from Malaysian designer Faisol Abdullah, who created a silk and taffeta piece decorated in 751 diamonds (including a mammoth 70ct pear-shaped diamond).
Speaking to Reuters, Abdullah said, “Stocks drop, gold is even falling but a diamond is forever. This is a dress with diamonds. Why do backwards, why can’t we go forwards? We are going to the fantastic, but it’s real. You are getting value for money with these diamonds.”
The second most expensive dress in the world is believed to be Debbie Wingham’s red diamond-encrusted ‘Abaya’ - a dress based after the Arabic and North African traditional outfit of the same name.
It is estimated to cost roughly $17.7 million according to Today and Wingham revealed she created the gown after visiting Dubai.
Wingham revealed the dress was stitched with “14-carat gold” thread and additionally includes 3,000 stones ranging from 50 two-carat black diamonds, 50 two-carat white diamonds, 1000 rubies and a $7.4 million red diamond.
Calling it a “show piece”, Wingham said, “The Arabian ladies have a certain elegance to them and the abayas have a certain movement that just captured my imagination...The thought of being able to use a red diamond, a stone that most jewellers don't even ever get to see in their lifetime, was too much of a good opportunity to pass by.”
