We knew we were in for something special when designer Elie Saab opened his autumn/winter 2025 show at Paris Fashion Week with a floor-grazing dress in rippling chiffon bias and worn under a heavy, hooded faux fur jacket.
Inspired by the glamorous life associated with Aspen – the famous American ski resort in Colorado known for its celebrity-filled apres ski as well as its well groomed slopes – Saab's skilful hands created an exploration of the kind of chic wardrobe we all aspire to.
A bodyform ski suit was paired with a blouson cut faux fur jacket, while a fitted dress in pieced black lace appeared under the modern version of a 1960s swing fur jacket – now with a supersized collar. A beaded, strapless column dress, decorated black on black, was matched with a faux fur clutch, while a sheer beaded look was topped by a huge, black furry hat.
To inject some fun, Saab mixed a sheer silk skirt with a polo neck sweater and an acid yellow faux fur, while several looks had knee-high furry boots. Yet with Saab, nonchalant elegance is never far away. This was best showcased as a fitted jacket and matching pencil skirt worn with a pelt thrown casually around the shoulders, a sheer beaded knee-length dress worn under a long mulberry sweater, cinched in at the waist, or for the evening, as an embellished gown worn with a knitted bib.
Unsurprisingly, casual elegance comes easily to Saab, having grown up in Beirut, the city once called the Paris of the Middle East. A playground for the rich and famous – think oil barons, Brigitte Bardot and even John F Kennedy – it has an innate sense of style that Saab is adept at channeling into his work.
Able to present a trouser suit, a coat or a dress with an equal level of sophistication, Saab's DNA is dressing his well-heeled clients from day to night with an almost breezy composure.
In catering to his global clients, it often feels as if Saab is summoning Beirut's former glorious self and its love of dressing up and having fun. While this show may have been themed for Aspen and its snow-covered mountains, with the voluptuous furs over sculpted embellished gowns, it could have easily have been about Beirut and its maze of ancient streets and refined eateries.
Drawing from millennia of culture, Saab has the savvy to reinterpret Beirut’s innate elegance for the modern woman.
