Why Elie Saab chose to feature regal Chinese-inspired designs in his Paris Couture Week show

Oct 18 , 2019

Chinese actress Gong Li poses on the red carpet at the 76th Venice International Film Festival in Italy in an Elie Saab Couture gown from the designer’s latest autumn/winter couture collection, paired with Boucheron high jewellery. Photo: Xinhua

Using Chinese models to present his new haute couture collection, the Lebanese-born designer put on an elegant show for 2019-2020

On the eve of Elie Saab’s 2019-2020 couture show, a group of young models waited for a fitting inside his atelier on Avenue Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Paris, including a handful of Chinese girls.

The show had been one of the Paris Couture Week calendar’s most highly anticipated events since Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture invited Saab to be a member in 2003.

Elie Saab’s latest collection is heavily influenced by China. ‘When I started to work on this collection, I imagined an ancient Chinese garden,’ says the designer. Photo: Oleg Covian

The orderly showroom was filled with dreamy, ethereal designs, some of which were to be presented to international fashion editors as well as Saab’s couture clients such as Filipino actress Heart Evangelista, who had travelled a long way to see the show.

Dressed casually in a shirt and jeans, Saab sat behind a table watching the fitting with undivided attention. Models paraded in floor-length gowns dyed in black, burgundy, emerald green and purple, and tailored in fancy materials such as velvet and organza, all adorned with ornate embroidery.

When one model appeared in a gown – a violet piece from his new China-inspired couture collection – Saab stood up to add a monkey-motif headpiece and a bronze-plated belt.

“I wanted to do the collection because I like Chinese culture and have great respect for it,” he explains. A wave of empress-like garments were reminiscent of the intricate costumes from the traditional Chinese court dramas Story of Yanxi Palace and The Legend of Zhen Huan. Yet Saab’s composition was modern and was combined with his signature elegance and refinement.

“I always like to tell a story through a collection,” he says. “When I started to work on this collection, I imagined an ancient Chinese garden. But I don’t go far, because eventually they are for the loyal customers of the house.”

‘I’m a businessman and very business-minded,’ says Saab, who confesses that maintaining the success he has achieved is a big challenge.

Saab’s name is acclaimed in Asian countries, with China having become a leading market for his creations. Chinese headliners Li Bingbing, Fan Bingbing and Gong Li are just some of the many famous Saab fans who have worn his designs to high-profile red carpet events and awards ceremonies.

Two of Saab’s fall 2014 couture collection gowns were featured in Chinese actress Angelababy’s (née Angela Yeung Wing) much-envied wedding photography, which was filmed in Paris.