Among runway shows by the age-old houses of Schiaparelli and Christian Dior at Paris haute couture week are a sprinkling of modern Arab designers. Here are some names to know, or to know better. Elie Saab: Looking to Marrakesh and its "magic and allure", Lebanese designer Saab offered a collection that shimmered like an oasis. Using fabrics that were by and large entirely matt, each look danced with light thanks to the thousands of beads and sequins applied by hand – in tone-on-tone, silver or gold.  The dusty colours of the vibrant Moroccan city arrived as faded periwinkle blue, a soft pink seemingly bleached by the sun, a light green and a wash of sunflower yellow. Even the rich tones of terracotta here were softened into something that felt old and steeped in history.  Already a dab hand at red carpet dressing, here Saab folded the Moroccan djellaba into his lexicon, uplifting it into an elegant over-robe, smothered in decadent beading and held at the waist with a tiny, beaded belt. In another look, it was opened into a cape with the hood trailing down the back as part of an evening dress.  Another mini cape appeared, covered in flowers made from feathers, as elsewhere other dresses seemed to exist only as a lattice of beadwork held together by translucent chiffon, creating a beautiful, weighted swing of the hem with each step.  Saab is in his element with haute couture where he started as a designer, and it clearly runs deep in his blood. This was an exquisite collection by a man at the apogee of his powers.  Georges Hobeika: The Lebanese label showed its spring 2024 haute couture offerings on day one in the French capital.  The Georges Hobeika show stayed true to the brand's DNA of glamorous occasion wear. Speaking to an ultra-wealthy clientele with a busy social calendar, the show featured a 1960s theme, complete with bouffant hairdos.  In a palette that shifted from honeyed nudes through pale lilacs and soft pinks, via seafoam greens into deep, decadent blues and on to fiery red, this was a wardrobe for a multifaceted woman.  There were snappy day suits in what looked like pink tweed, but was actually a hand-sequinned facsimile; day coats in peppy red; and fragile-looking gossamer gowns in floaty chiffon – all embellished by countless hours of hand-stitched embroidery and beadwork lavished on to the surfaces (this is haute couture, after all).  In 2022, Hobeika senior was joined by his son Jad as co-creative director, as the house looks to broaden its appeal to a younger audience. This was best seen in pared-back looks such as a bright red, strapless gown in high-shine satin that was stripped of all decoration; and a fitted dress in buttermilk with a simple boat neck, its beadwork pooled around the cuffs and skirt hem.  Perhaps best of all, some of these looks were also worn with flat shoes.  Hobeika is best known for its intricate, impeccable surface embellishment, of which there was plenty presented here. From a dress with blue-on-white swirling patterning that felt like Yuan dynasty ceramics, to red sequins that shifted across the body – dense here, lighter there – to the elbow-length opera gloves that had sequins scattered up the arm, fading away in colour and all done in hand-stitched sequins and beading, the effect was ravishing.  With workshops in Beirut and Paris, and now two, not only one creative director, the house of Hobeika is entering a new era. And if the elegant, dressy, sassy couture offering from Paris is anything to go by, that new era looks beautiful indeed. (ICE BEIRUT)

Fonte notizia: thenationalnews.com