This Chanel coat took 3,000 hours to make

Ever wondered why couture fashion is so expensive? Let Karl Lagerfeld explain...

BY Belinda White | 05 July 2012

Paris Haute Couture week is a world of pure fantasy, where the super-rich congregate to have their wildest fantasies indulged by the world's leading fashion designers.

Mostly, therefore, it's hard for anyone not in the elite club to understand what the fuss is really all about beyond some pretty frocks.

IN PICTURES: Chanel Haute Couture autumn/winter 2012

As the event draws to a close for another season then, leave it to Chanel creative director, Karl Lagerfeld, to explain why couture customers routinely spend upwards of £30,000 for an outfit.

"Couture has to be something nobody can do. You know the tweed is not tweed - it's embroidery, all done by hand. There's a coat with no sleeves that took 3,000 hours to make."

See more from Paris Haute Couture Week

That's right, 3,000 man-hours by the world's most skilled couturiers - known in Paris as Petites Mains - embroiderers, button makers and weavers.

If we imagine for a moment that these craftspeople are working a regular eight hour day, that's a total of 375 days - to make one coat.

Here it is in all its glory and we have to admit, if we had the money, we so would...