Couture house Valentino sees 'brisk' business

PARIS - The Italian fashion brand Valentino is enjoying solid demand for haute couture pieces, thanks to Middle Eastern, Russian and US buyers and trading overall continues to improve, its head said on Wednesday.

Chief Executive Stefano Sassi said buyers from China, the biggest growth market for many luxury brands, were starting to emerge but it was still early days.

"The Chinese - they are just starting. The most important are Middle Eastern customers, followed by the Russians and Americans," Sassi told Reuters in an interview after the brand's haute couture show in a private mansion in Paris.