PRESS
Elie Saab Reveals His Autumn/Winter 2013 Collection at Paris Fashion Week
Espace Ephemere at the Jardins des Tuileries, one of the best loved locations in Paris for introducing new creations, was chosen as backdrop for Elie Saab’s A/W Collection on March, 6 during Paris Fashion Week.
Among the attendees were Producer Rebecca Wang, French Actress Vahina Giocante and Spanish model and actress Ines Sastre.
The collection included elegant day dresses; either sculpted to the body and sporting back zips from neck down to hemline, or with a structured bodice and square, scalloped, or occasionally plunging necklines. Models wore full skirts ending just above the knee. A mixed use of solid colours -dark blues, teal, mustard, and a hint of aubergine along with black and white, kept the overall message international, chic and powerful through elegant simplicity. A use of long fluid panels in luxurious evening dresses and gowns which were slashed and overlaid with ornate lace bodywork flowed along the catwalk.
Overall the collection endorses Saab’s general reputation for a styling that is continuous and steady, but it is one that greatly pays tribute both to his talents and to Lebanon.
Saab, a self taught designer, launched his label in 1992 at the age of 18, in his home town of Beirut with a team of just sixteen employees. Initially specialising in wedding dresses using rich fabric, lace, detailed embroidery, pearls, crystals and silk threads, his designs soon expanded to cater for the high society women who had begun to wear his clothes. Saab is the first non-Italian designer to be made a member of the Camera Nazionale de la Moda in Rome and he has also been invited to membership of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in Paris. While his main atelier remains in Lebanon, he now also has workshops in Milan and Paris, which is now his permanent ready to wear launch pad. Elie Saab has sixty retail outlets across the world and his designs are sold in 22 countries.
Saab’s style is seen as a fusion of Western and Eastern cultures and it is characterised by his use of noble materials such as taffeta, organza and satin with fabrics that are lighter and more fluid. The designer enjoys a large and loyal following in Arab countries and his work is also popular with royalties and international celebrities attending key global events. Saab’s patrons include Queen Rania of Jordan, whom he dressed for her coronation and Halle Berry who wore a burgundy gown by him in 2002, making Saab the first Lebanese designer to dress an Oscar winner. Among his fans can also be counted Princess Beatrice of York, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Celine Dion, Beyoncé, Emma Watson and Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden.