By Kien Lee

Yin Yiqing, whom this humble writer had the honour of meeting in Paris when he was planning the first Women's Fashion Week in Singapore, has just received the highly coveted appellation of Haute Couture, becoming the first Chinese-born to do so.

The designation – regarded as the pinnacle of the fashion world – is protected by French law and attributed exclusively by the ministry of industry to now 15 houses whose clothes are entirely made by hand and tailored to each client. 

She joins 14 fashion houses that now have the right to call themselves haute couture and these include CHANEL, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier, Maison Margiela, Giambattista Valli, Franck Sorbier, Adeline Andre, Alexandre Vauthier, Alexis Mabille, Bouchra Jarrar, Maurizio Galante and Stephane Rolland.

Another 20 designers have the status of "guest members" and this year will be joined by Guo Pei from China, Iris Van Herpen from the Netherlands and Yacine Aoudad from France, showcasing during Haute Couture Week from 24 to 28 January.

Yin, who grew up in France after moving from China at age four, studied at France’s famous national school of decorative arts before winning the Andam prize for her first collection in 2011, the same year she was invited to show her work in the haute couture shows.

Her impressive body of work has seen her collaborate with Swarovski Elements as well as Absolute Vodka –as seen in the visuals in this article.

Follow our updates on Haute Couture Week here.