Domlnique Maitre/WWD
Priscilla Presley has been on our screens of late, with Sofia Coppola’s eponymous film last fall, and this season she was the main muse on Elie Saab’s mood board.
He looked to her ’70s style for inspiration with a collection titled “Memories of Graceland.” (Though he says he hasn’t seen the movie just yet.)
Thus the collection read a little bit country, with opening looks of swinging fringe on western style jackets, tops and a high heeled cowboy boot, and a little bit rock’n’roll in lightning bolt zig-zags embroidered on gowns, perhaps a subtle nod to Elvis’ TCB motif. There were strums of steel guitar in the soundtrack.
For daywear, Saab worked with stiff, dark denim with his looping moon monogram embroidered on shoulders and pockets. Looks were belted denim-on-denim or jumpsuits cut with wide legs. Dresses were topped with bolero vests and his loose interpretation of a bolo tie. Elsewhere he worked with tweed suits and his take on naked dressing in a sheer blouse with floral embroidery over the bust.
Hard rock was represented in heavily-studded black and gold dresses, while disco made an appearance in an asymmetrical amethyst gown which had a subtle cape shoulder for added swish at the back.
Saab paraded his usual array of red carpet ready looks, with many in monochrome featuring floral embroidery. The theme carried into outerwear too, with oversized rose appliques giving volume to collars and shoulders on coats and capes.
The brand is working on its festival event planned for Saudi Arabia in October, where it will present the collection. The immersive event will be less a traditional fashion show and “more an aspirational positioning to cement the idea of Elie Saab being an inspiration for the youth, since he was the first designer to break out of the Middle East and show on the international calendar,” said chief executive officer Elie Saab Jr.
Saab Jr. noted that continuing business in Lebanon has “had its challenges” in the context of the conflict in the region. “But we are resilient,” he added.
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