In this article we will explore in detail Elie Saab, a topic that has aroused the interest of various sectors and that has generated a wide debate in today's society. Elie Saab has significantly impacted various aspects of our daily lives, and its influence has become increasingly evident in recent years. Through a comprehensive analysis, we will examine the many facets of Elie Saab, from its origins and history to its implications in today's world. Additionally, we will examine how Elie Saab has evolved over time and how it has affected different people and communities around the world. This topic is of great relevance today, so it is essential to understand its ramifications and challenges in order to address it effectively.
Elie Saab (Arabic: ايلي صعب) (born 4 July 1964) is a Lebanese fashion designer.
His main workshop is in Lebanon, with additional workshops in Milan and Paris. He started his business in the early 1980s and specialised in bridal couture (expensive fabrics, lace, gemstones, Swarovski crystals, pearls, detailed embroidery, etc.).
He is the first Lebanese to be admitted to the fashion industry's governing body, Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Saab appeared as a judge on Project Runway: Middle East in 2016. As of March 2017, his couture collections are available in Paris, London, and Beirut, while his ready-to-wear clothes were in 160 retailers and his own boutiques.Kate Middleton wore a Saab gown to the Royal Ascot in 2019, marking the first occasion where Saab has dressed a British royal family member.
Early life
Elie Saab is the eldest son of a wood merchant who raised five children in Damour, a southern coastal suburb in Beirut, Lebanon.
Born to Maronite Catholic Lebanese parents in Beirut, Saab began sewing as a child. At the age of eight, his attention had turned to fashion. With his sisters serving as models, he would cut patterns out of newspaper and search his mother's closet for materials.
Career
Early years in fashion
In 1981, Saab moved to Paris to study fashion. He later dropped out to return to Beirut and open his fashion label. In 1982, when he was 18 years old, he worked with a team of 15 employees. At first his atelier specialized in bridal couture, making wedding dresses and gowns using expensive fabrics, lace, detailed embroidery, pearls, crystals and silk threads. In Beirut his reputation grew from dressing women in his neighborhood, and was soon enhanced by high society women sporting his designs.
In 1997, Saab was the first non-Italian designer to become a member of the National Chamber of Italian Fashion, and in 1997 he showed his first collection outside Lebanon in Rome.
In 1998, he started his ready-to-wear line in Milan, as well as an accessories line. During the same year, Saab held a fashion show in Monaco, with Princess Stéphanie of Monaco in attendance.
In 1999, one of his dresses thickly embroidered with emeralds and diamonds was reportedly sold for $2.4 million.
In 2003, he teamed up with Pronovias to create a bridal line, Elie by Elie Saab.
The Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture inducted him as a membre correspondant in 2006. His first ready-to-wear collection in Paris was the Spring-Summer 2006 collection.[citation needed]
Saab, Tina Knowles, House of Deréon, Giorgio Armani, Versace, and Herve Leger served as the designers for the outfits of the 2007 The Beyoncé Experience tour. In 2010, Saab dressed 102 celebrities for events overall, up from 40 in 2009. That year, he signed a 10-year licensing agreement with Beauté Prestige International for fragrance and cosmetics. The figure for 2011, up until March, was 88. In 2011, Madame Tussauds unveiled a wax statue of Kate Winslet draped in the Elie Saab dress she wore at 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2011, Elie Saab launched his first fragranceLe Parfum.[citation needed]
The Duchess of Cambridge wore an Elie Saab gown while attending Royal Ascot in 2019. This was the first time one of Saab's gowns was worn by a British royal.
Recent dresses and collaborations
In 2012, he worked with the Lebanese American University and London College of Fashion to launch a bachelor's degree in fashion design. As of 2013, the brand had boutiques located in Beirut, Dubai, Doha, Paris, London, Geneva, Hong Kong, Moscow, New York City, and Mexico, with 100 retail outlets total. Saab's son, Elie Saab Jr, became brand director in 2013.
Saab appeared as a judge on Project Runway: Middle East in 2016. Between 2015 and 2017, the Elie Saab company opened a second Paris boutique and a new location in London's Mayfair, and in Manhattan. The Manhattan store that opened in October 2016 was his first in the country. As of March 2017, his couture collections are available in Paris, London, and Beirut, while his ready-to-wear clothes were in 160 retailers and his own boutiques. Also that month, the Elie Saab company opened a new Madison Avenue store.
Elie Saab X Emaar
The Lebanese fashion designer and the real estate development company Emaar reveal luxurious Elie Saab at Emaar Beachfront property in Dubai. The luxurious gated island property, Grand Bleu Tower at Emaar Beachfront, will include one, two and three-bedroom apartments as well as four-bedroom penthouses with interiors by Elie Saab. The residential tower boasts views of the Arabian Sea, The Palm and Dubai Marina.
Beirut explosion, 4 August 2020
Saab's main office and headquarters were left badly damaged by the explosion, his home nearby was completely destroyed.
Despite this, the designer and his team planned to get back to work in order to finish the collection for the September show.
In April 2021, Elie Saab launched an initiative that consists in donating a portion of sales to UNICEF's "Integrated Education and Well-Being for Vulnerable Girls in Lebanon Program."
Saab and his wife Claudine live with their family in Lebanon, and together have three sons.
Controversies
In January 2018, Saab received backlash on social media after his label's Instagram account posted a picture of Israeli actress Gal Gadot wearing one of his dresses to the National Board of Review awards with the caption "A flawless Gal Gadot in Elie Saab Ready-to-Wear Spring Summer 2018 at the national board of review annual gala in New York". The post was later deleted.
^Aktar, Alev (28 March 2002). "It's the dress for success - Elie Saab goes from obscurity to fashion's front row". New York Daily News. ProQuest305673678.