elie’s angels
Words | Siân Tichar His glittering evening dresses have made Elie Saab the number one choice of Hollywood’s A-list, but the Lebanese fashion designer’s heart is still in Beirut AS AN ARMY OF photographers’ flashbulbs went off on the night of 25 March 2002, Elie Saab’s fashion creations came to life for many people for [...]
Words | Siân Tichar
His glittering evening dresses have made Elie Saab the number one choice of
Hollywood’s A-list, but the Lebanese fashion designer’s heart is still in Beirut
AS AN ARMY OF photographers’ flashbulbs went off on the night
of 25 March 2002, Elie Saab’s fashion creations came to life for
many people for the first time. Halle Berry had triumphed at the
Academy Awards, emerging as the first African-American woman to
win the Best Actress Oscar for her role in Monster’s Ball.
A silk-thread-embroidered, sheer bodice in burgundy tulle
with a full double-taffeta skirt had been selected for her by
Hollywood celebrity stylist Phillip Bloch. “The minute I saw
the dress, I knew it was a history-making dress. I just didn’t
know how much history it would make,” Bloch recalled of
the moment when he first laid eyes on it from a front-row
seat at Saab’s autumn 2001 Paris haute couture show.
That landmark frock sent the 43-year-old couturier’s
international fashion operation into overdrive and, following
Berry’s Oscar victory, demand for his handiwork rose by
30%. Yet Saab’s professional breakthrough moment came
just over a year later when in July of 2003 he showed his
haute couture collection in Paris as an officially invited
member of the French fashion industry’s prestigious trade
association, the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture.
Two years on, in October 2005, Saab launched his expanded
ready to wear collection on the Paris runway and has since
made his second home there.
Yet Saab’s heart and business will forever remain in
Beirut, where he was born. The son of a wood merchant,
he spent much of his free time cutting patterns and drawing
sketches for his sisters using his mother’s table-cloths and
curtains, until, aged 18, with no formal fashion education,
he established an eponymous label. In 1982 he opened his
first atelier with 10 employees in Beirut, and right from the
outset, his focus was on designing glamorous gowns and
exquisite wedding dresses. His first collection was shown
at the infamous Casino Du Liban. Through
the patronage of Middle Eastern society,
he kept his business running throughout
the civil war that occurred in Lebanon until
1990. It was seven years later that Saab’s
first big international break came in Rome
when, at Alta Moda, its biannual fashion
week, he was the first non-Italian to present
couture alongside Italy’s best designers.
Today, in Beirut’s rebuilt city centre, a
lush, rooftop garden is the frosting on an
elegant, six-storey, modernist sandstone
building that houses his flagship shop,
studio, showroom and offices. “Beirut is my
hometown. Everything about it is a source
of inspiration,” he insists, including Claudine,
his elegant wife, who has served as his muse
since she arrived at his design studio seeking
a wedding dress for her sister – the gold
bead-embroidered satin gown that Claudine
wore on their wedding day in 1990 was one
of his most special creations. Today, they
have three sons, Michel, Elie Jnr and Selim.
The close-knit team of 100 that Saab
relies on in Beirut to help produce his
couture, ready to wear and bridal collections includes beadwork, sequins, embroidery and
flourishes of handmade lace.
Now Saab’s fashion force stretches from
this busy Beirut atelier through the Middle
East and on to Paris where, seasonally, he
stages four fashion shows a year. In July
2007 he opened his first Parisian boutique
at the prestigious address of 1, Rond-Point
des Champs Élysées. Occupying close
to 11,000 sq ft, the boutique showcases
Saab’s ready to wear along with a separate
couture salon and atelier to service
private, VIP and celebrity clients. “I wanted
it to feel like a glamorous gallery of
women’s apparel,” says Saab. Designed by
internationally recognised architect Chakib
Richani, the store epitomises a modernist
aesthetic, showcasing rich materials
including marble and speciality glass which
mirror the interior of his flagship building
in Beirut.
And then there’s Hollywood. At every
red-carpet awards ceremony, Saab’s
creations dazzle. Take 2006’s Golden Globe
awards, where gifted blonde Maria Bello
competed for the best actress prize for her role in the movie
A History of Violence, in a champagne-hued Saab column.
“I feel glamorous, but still myself,” she said, strutting to her
seat. “This spoke to me,” said Debra Messing (star of the hit TV sitcom Will & Grace), of the chocolate-brown, beaded
Saab gown she wore to the 2005 Emmy Awards. This year
alone has seen other actresses and singers, such as Michelle
Williams, Vanessa Williams, Beyoncé Knowles, Sheryl Crow,
Felicity Huffman and Kate Walsh, all don distinctively Saab
frocks at numerous awards ceremonies. Red carpet clearly
seems to be Saab’s natural domain; Helen Mirren strode
up the steps of the Palais des Festival at this year’s Cannes
Film Festival wrapped in frothy golden, floor-length silk and
chiffon. Other celebrities – including Kelly Rowland and Dita
von Teese – joined her in her choice of couturier.
As with other international designers, Saab has formed
special relationships with certain celebrities who find his
gowns a particularly natural fit. Halle Berry has worn Saab
since that auspicious night and she was spotted earlier
this year at a pre-Oscar celebration in a warm gold-toned,
strapless empire gown from Saab’s Spring/Summer 2007
collection. Another woman stepping out and dazzling in a
pale, ice blue, chiffon gown with an austere ruffle at the
bust, was Beyoncé who attended the much-coveted Vanity
Fair post-Oscar party.
She had already been seen wearing
a pale blue empire line with accordion pleating from Saab’s
Couture Spring 2007 collection the previous month at the
Grammy’s. The megastar also chose to wear Saab for four
of the six performance sections of her world tour. His
Ready To Wear Spring/Summer 2007 collection turned
out to be the perfect fit for the singer as she rocked out
in shimmering gold. Saab often defines his ready to wear
collections with dominant colour tones.
Autumn/Winter 2007 whips together darker violets,
merlots and dusty pinks. Beyoncé’s show gave the collection
a global preview as she selected to wear black patent
leather, plum chiffon, feathers, sequins and leather gloves,
heralding in the more dangerous feel for the season ahead.
Naturally, since Saab has become a world-known fashion
name and a permanent presence on Hollywood’s red carpet,
his brand of glamorous opulence has exerted a powerful
influence on brands, from a line of glistening, limitededition
MAC cosmetics to a sleek black-and-white BMW
X5. There are plans to launch a signature fragrance and
more stand-alone Elie Saab stores around the world,
ensuring that this visionary Lebanese designer’s unique
ability to craft the ultimate glamour frock will be a little
bit more accessible to all women.
FASHION STORES IN BEIRUT
Lebanese women understand the true meaning of
glamour and a stroll through Beirut’s downtown
shopping area should not be attempted without a
perfectly polished sense of style and a pair of designer
heels. The capital city’s top five fashion boutiques that
should be on every style-conscious traveller’s map are:
Elie Saab Elie Saab Building, Beirut Central District 2021
4516, tel +961 1 981 982; www.eliesaab.com
Aïshti Lebanon’s ultimate designer department
store sells top women’s and men’s brands (71, El-
Moutrane Street, tel +961 1 991 111; www.aishti.com
)
Plum Cutting-edge labels by the world’s trendiest
designers (Marc Jacobs, Pierre Hardy) in a chic store
(SaifiVillage, Aris Kanafani Street, tel +961 1 976 565)
Comme des Garçons Guerrilla Store just opened
in summer 2007 with a life-span of 12 months selling
current and vintage CDG collection items (97, Abdel
Hadi Street, Ashrafieh, tel +961 1 203 115)
Sarah’s Bag Proceeds from purchases of Sarah
Beydoun’s and Sarah Nahouli’s bags go to outcast
women, many of whom craft them as part of unique
rehabilitation programme for former prisoners
(Ashrafieh, Tabaris, 100 Liban Street, Mhanna bldg,
2nd floor, tel +961 1 575 585)
