WITH his immaculate hair and an unmistakable air of elegance, haute couture designer Dominique Sirop looks every inch a royalty sipping his coffee in the lobby of the St Regis Hotel.

'When I was a little boy, my father took me to visit the Versailles and I was blown away by how beautiful it was,' says Sirop, who was in town last week as a high profile guest at the Audi Fashion Festival.

'I then told him that when I grew up I wanted to be a King, because kings can build such beautiful things.'

Fast forward a few decades and while actual blue blood he may not have attained, Sirop has achieved the status of fashion royalty, even if his ascension was not an easy one.

At the age of 17, a contact of his model mother helped him to gain apprenticeship at the great house of Yves Saint Laurent before he moved three years later to Givenchy. There, he worked under Hubert de Givenchy himself, making accessories for actress Audrey Hepburn.

In 1995, after 11 years at Givenchy, although Sirop was Hubert de Givenchy's choice of successor, Bernard Arnault, the boss of LVMH (which owns Givenchy) appointed John Galliano instead, claiming Sirop was not famous enough.

But the boy who at seven already knew that he wanted to either 'be a King, work in the theatre or be a fashion designer' stood tall and achieved all three by starting his own fashion house instead.

'I remember then that I saw this old theatre up for sale and I told my mother I wanted to get it even though I didn't have a cent in my pocket and she told me, 'Dominique, when you were young you dreamt of putting on a fashion show in a theatre. This is your chance to achieve your dreams,' and with that she gave me the money that allowed me to buy the theatre.'

In 1996, he put on his first fashion show at that very theatre, in Paris's red light Pigalle district. 'Because the theatre was in a bad part of town, so many people said that nobody would come to watch my show but Monsieur Hubert de Givenchy told me that a fashion house is like a restaurant. If the food is good, people will travel and likewise for clothing,' he recalls wistfully.

'True enough, my little theatre was packed and with that first collection I sold my first million francs' worth of clothing.'

Indeed with the first of his signature clean, classic designs that he is best known for today, he managed to garner high-spending fans including Queen Rania of Jordan and American couture client Nan Kempner who flew him in a private jet to New York where she organised a tea party at her Park Avenue apartment for Sirop to show off his wares to her friends.

Within a year, he was admitted into the exclusive Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture Parisienne in 1997. The house of Dominique Sirop was made one of the 10 official French couture fashion houses and he, a grand coutourier, thereby fulfilling his royal aspirations.

'The beauty about couture is that it is exclusive, you know that if you buy something from me it wouldn't be worn by countless other people out there,' explains Sirop on why he only sells haute couture.

'If you come to my studio in Paris, there are no window displays because otherwise there would be copycats. This way, I can ensure my clients that when they buy from me, they are getting something that is unique.'

Well, with prices ranging from 15,000 euros (S$30,000) to 35,000 euros for clothing, uniqueness is presumably a must, but Sirop ensures that service at his shop is also of top quality - a trait that he insists has kept him in business for the past 13 years, in an industry that has seen other fashion houses bought over by huge conglomerates. The house of Dominique Sirop remains (by his choice) an independent one.

'You know, so many journalists ask me, Monsieur Sirop, what is your secret to surviving in the business for so long and I tell them, there is no secret, I just sell clothes,' he says with a slight shrug. 'When you are in the business of selling clothing, especially couture, you need to know your clients well. My seller and I know exactly what my clients are doing for six months so I can recommend outfits to them. That way, I know what they need and want.

'The problem with the big fashion houses is that they don't provide that kind of service well. There was a woman who walked into a famous brand's shop where she has been a client for more than 10 years, spending at least 120,000 euros a season and because they were busy, nobody even bothered to say hi to her. She was so angry, she walked out and refuses to shop there ever again. Now she shops with me.'

He adds that too many of the younger designers try too hard and in the process lose their identity. 'So many young designers want to be different and outrageous. They think it is necessary to stand out. I don't believe in that. How is that sustainable season after season?' he critiques. 'For me, I never draw patterns and I have never since I started my own label used a pair of scissors on a piece of fabric. I only sew, drape and fold. I believe in clean lines and elegant looks that accentuate a woman's figure.

He concludes: 'I'm not somebody who needs very much materially. I'm a simple man. My house has only one chair and is decorated with paintings that are not hung up but shifted around the floor based on my mood.

'In fact, if a woman comes to my studio and says Monsieur Sirop, I love your designs but I cannot afford a gown from you, if I think she really means it, I'd rather give her the dress. To me, as long as I have enough money to make my next collection, I'm happy.'

This article was first published in The Business Times