The French word vendeuse describes a salesperson employed at a couture house. These employees are carefully trained to be able to cater to each individual client's needs. One might be hired to deal with clients with classical tastes, while another might specialize in those customers with eccentric tastes. Vendeuses are required to speak several foreign languages and have a refined sense of the social graces as they are selling clothing priced in the thousands of dollars, usually to an elite group of wealthy women.
See also Haute Couture.
Historical Dictionary of the Fashion Industry. Francesca Sterlacci and Joanne Arbuckle.