Flowers dominate the runway of Dolce&Gabbana's haute couture collection Alta Moda Spring/Summer 2014. Photos Provided by Kessler Studio/Pier Nicola Bruno Studio

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All the fabrics are hand-woven, the petals hand-painted and the headbands hand-sewn. The materials, except for the gemstones, are all sourced from Italy, Gabbana adds.

The brand has developed a new fabric, which is spun from silk and gold thread, and takes one month to make just 1 meter. It can take months to construct a single dress and requires numerous fittings afterwards.

"Touch, touch, don't worry," Gabbana says as he guides through the atelier on the eve of the show. The atelier, which perches in a multi-story house in downtown Milan, is solely dedicated to the Alta Moda line. The secret hotbed of Alta Moda looks like an ordinary residential building from the outside.

Just 17 hours before the show, the atelier is ablaze with lights as dozens of seamstresses apply the final touches. "They will be ready by tomorrow," Gabbana says reassuringly.

At a time when haute couture is often a publicity prop that attracts more media hype than actual orders, the duo insist on doing it the old-fashioned way.

The house has chosen to present the show to only their clients and a handful of selected media outlets, as many of the customers don't want to see their dress "in a magazine or on a movie star".

All the dresses are one-offs. Like the free seating adopted at the Alta Moda show, it's first come, first served.

"If you go to a party, you cannot meet another woman wearing the same dress. It's unique, we cannot repeat the same one because it's hand-painted," Gabbana says.

It is also because all the paintings that are referred to in the dresses are commissioned by the museums to be used just once.

"For me, this is the old couture," says a French fashion editor who has just flown in from the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week that closed just the day before.