Royalty knows no recession. Faisol Abdullah, a Malaysian designer, is up to designing the hottest couture ever with a $30 million diamond dress dubbed the "Nightingale of Kuala Lumpur", for the Stylo Fashion festival in the Malaysian capital. “Stocks drop, gold is even falling, but a diamond is forever. This is a dress with diamonds. Why do backwards, why can’t we go forwards?” Faisol Abdullah told Reuters as he showed off his sketches. The silk and taffeta evening gown will be decked with 751 diamonds with a 70 carat pear-shaped diamond at the centre of the bodice, and topped off with a train sparkling with diamonds.

Asked if the dress would attract buyers, Nancy Yeoh, chief executive of Stylo, which commissioned the dress, said: "Its art and there are still enough rich people who would want to buy. Actually, we have a plan to present the dress to the royal courts around the world starting with the Middle East", she said, adding that if the dress was sold, 5 percent would go to the Gaza Humanitarian Fund. Featured above is a $20 million diamond dress from Chris Aire modelled by May Andersen with the 70 carat diamond and on the right the Nightingale of Kualar Lumpur.

This $30 million dress leaves Victoria’s Secret far behind in the race for the most expensive couture, with the second runner-up being the $20 million diamond dress designed by jeweler Chris Aire, but just in tune with the $30 million diamond studded bikini created by Susan Rosen with Steinmetz Diamonds.