Forget helicopters and BMWs , could the ultimate symbol of wealth be clothes made from gold ? On a catwalk show which took place in Xi'an , the capital city of north-western China 's Shaanxi province , models strutted their stuff in items made from the precious metal . Including underwear and a chain-mail style shirt which it has been revealed would be worth around £40,000 . And this was no lightweight affair either . On a catwalk in Xi'an in China models strutted their stuff in gold underwear , it is thought the look is influenced by royal women in history . The shirt alone worn by the male model weighed in at 7lbs and the matching bra and underwear for the female model also came in at 7lbs . The idea for real gold clothing takes its inspiration from royal women in history , including Cleopatra , Marie Antoinette and Tsarina Alexandra who all reportedly had gold clothing . The organisers of the event said that it took 30 craftsmen three months to make the gold shirt and the women 's clothing which is also worth around £40,000 . Fashion photographer Manchu Peng , 30 , who attended event said : 'There were some good designs there but the gold clothing items really stole the show . ' It took 30 craftsmen three month to make this shirt which is mean out of real gold and has a chain-mail style . The model showed off his shirt as on-lookers checked out how the design was made . The idea came after a Chinese designer unveiled an extraordinary set of underwear made entirely of gold last year . The items however were produced as a work of art and not intended for sale . They were modelled by an unnamed woman who was joined by two other models - both of whom posed with glittering gold accessories , including necklaces , a shoe and a rabbit at a store in China . These two women proudly showed off their gold underwear , the items are not for sale but are said to be worth around £40,000 . This gold underwear set has an intricate design with the model wearing a pair of white pants underneath it to protect her modesty . And prior to that a Turkish jeweller unveiled a series glamorous gold dresses - each worth a staggering £85,000 . Artisan Ahmet Atakan , based in Izmir , a city in Turkey , crafted each frock out of a total of 78,000 pieces of the expensive metal to form a mesh-like fabric . Despite the eye-watering price tag of 300 thousand Turkish Liras ( about £84,800 ) , eight of the unique gowns have already been sold .
Designs made from real gold were shown on the catwalk in Xi'an China . Models strutted their stuff in underwear and a shirt made from gold . The items cost around £40,000 each but are not intended for sale .