PARIS, Jan 22, 2004/ FW/ --- For haute couture, current statistics show that the industry caters to approximately 1500 clients, comprised of about 60% American. Susan Casden of Los Angeles is one of them.

At the Ralph Rucci show today, when the usher led me to my seat, the abundance of photographers surprised me a bit, because they usually flock to either celebrities and/or VIPs.

They were taking photos of a beautiful woman who looked very chic in her Chanel couture suit. She looked so familiar, but I cannot remember her name.

I only realized who she was when one photographer asked for the correct spelling of her name. (Photographers in general are a stickler in spelling a person’s name correctly).

When she spoke in English and told the photographer that her name is Susan Casden, I immediately remembered where I have seen her, on the society pages of the L.A. Times.

Blonde hair and blue eyes, Susan Casden is a goddess who can stand amongst the beauty goddesses of Hollywood. When I realized that I was seated with her and her husband Alan, I literally felt like a church mouse.

Elegant and sophisticated, Susan Casden is the kind of woman you read about on the pages of Vogue and Architectural Digest.

So, when she spoke to me first, I almost jumped, simply because I believed that she had not noticed me at all with all the attention she was getting from the fashion photographers.

“Are you in the fashion business?” she asked.

When I told her I was a writer, she smiled, commenting that my notebook and pen are dead giveaways that I was one.

So, we started talking about the current haute couture season, from what we have seen, which was almost all because the Ralph Rucci and Elie Saab shows were the last two on the calendar.

“Chanel is exquisite and the most wearable,” Susan Casden said. “I think it is the best show of all.”

When asked about Dior by John Galliano, she said, “It’s beautiful, but hard to wear.”

And for Givenchy, she shares her husband’s opinion, “It’s the best Givenchy collection that Julien Macdonald has come up with.”

And as we conversed, it became very apparent that Susan Casden is one of those extraordinary women who were born with both beauty and brains. Though our conversation was mostly fashion, she showed a keen understanding of the U.S. and EU economies, and how they affect each other.

“The weak dollar against the euro is affecting the sales of luxury fashion items,” she said. “Prices had gone up from 20 to 40 per cent, and fashion houses have to take that into consideration not only for haute couture, but for their overall business.”

She was going to say more, but the lights dimmed and the music started. The show was about to begin, and the audience including Susan Casden and I were in “show mode” once again.

When the show finished, I wanted to continue our conversation, but once again she was mobbed by photographers, and as I was leaving, she gave me a smile and said, “I have your business card, so I know how to contact you.”

And I really wish she would, because she is one of the most fascinating people I have ever met.