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But one look at the audience at Dior's spring-summer 2011 haute couture show on Monday at Paris Fashion Week, which concluded yesterday, sufficed to suggest the contrary. Nearly 1,000 guests braved a persistent drizzle and impossibly cramped seats to marvel at - and perhaps, later, invest in - the spectacular, outlandish, impractical and astronomically priced made-to-measure concoctions. That was about twice as many as attended last season's show. Georgio Armani, a red carpet favorite, gave his celebrity fans lots to lust after with a high-sheen collection of futuristic column dresses. On Tuesday, luxury supernova Chanel and cross-town rival Givenchy fielded their collections and haute couture got tugged in opposite directions. Chanel channeled the street - embracing the mixed-up, casual-chic styles of today's trendsetting It Girls - while Givenchy sent out what can only be described as extreme haute couture - breathtaking, Baroque garments that crossed the divide between clothes and art. Karl Lagerfeld layered delicate hand-beaded jackets over skinny jeans and flats. But at Givenchy, the rarified world of couture moved even further from reality with a capsule collection of tulle gowns entirely covered in pearls, sequins, beads, chiffon petals and ostrich feathers. The dresses took up to 4,000 hours of painstaking labor a piece and fetch six-figure prices. French designer Stephane Rolland continued to show why he's become a favorite of princesses worldwide. His collection was made for women whose packed social calendars provide them ample opportunities to work dramatic statement gowns.