When it came time to seek inspiration for his pre-fall collection, Elie Saab didn’t need to look further than his own back yard. “I was thinking about Lebanese women, particularly in Beirut,” the designer said on video call from his headquarters. “It’s a collection done with love and exceptional attachment, because we wanted to show the whole world that Beirut is a beautiful, unforgettable city of contrasts. It’s full of sensuality, light and shadow.” To complete the picture, this season he illustrated his inspirations in a video shot in the Lebanese capital.
Saab wanted especially to translate the city’s contradictions into clothing. “We’ve been looking at things that are easier to wear, more relaxed, like a modernized nostalgia but with lots of architectural lines,” he said.
Fabrics, too, amped up contrast. Saab’s ladies love lace, and here it cropped up in layers, veiled over gradient fabric, on in saucy cut-outs or bralettes. A spin through the ’90s brought the retro vibe, a salute to the decade when the designer started coming into his own.
“Our woman was always powerful, but there’s this sensuality to the pencil skirts of that era. It felt like the right kind of sexy now,” he said, nodding to the first look here, in cinnamon leather worn with matching boots and a jacket with a high funnel neck and cinched belt (to change things up, he later swapped in a dramatic lavaliere blouse in electric blue).
The designer noted that, for the first time, there was more daywear than eveningwear (although there was plenty of that, too). There were a number of options in black and white, including a speckled print grounded by sporty striped trim on a day dress or varsity jacket, and a floaty cocktail dress with a plunging neckline. Perennially chic styling flourishes included adding a pop of acid green, blue, or russet to monochrome outfits, plays on texture (slim velvet trousers with a cargo jacket, a dusky sequined cardigan with jeans, faux fur over draped black jersey) and a dramatic, gently oversized topper over most anything. Saab said his clients pay close attention to his seasonal embroideries, and here they appeared as botanical motifs in muted, matte hues on lace evening gowns; elsewhere, sheer veils of sparkle over a dévoré treatment created a vaguely otherworldly effect—diva, for sure, but with a shot of grit.
Accessories-wise, the third Wave collection took real life into account with bags big enough to cart to the office as well as just-the-essentials styles. A new tote also just debuted in Miami and Los Angeles. Speaking of farther shores, the designer plans to open new stores in India and Moscow this year. Asked to what he attributes his enduring popularity, particularly in a time of crisis in luxury, he responded simply: “The product. Ever since I launched my brand [in 1982], the product is the star.
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