Elie Saab’s Impressionist Garden
Get an exclusive look at Elie Saab‘s Spring 2025 couture fashion show from the runways of Paris Couture Fashion Week, held in January 2025.
By Mark Wittmer
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Ephemerally beautiful. Quietly progressive.
If there’s a designer working today who most embodies the quintessential vision of haute couture, it’s probably Elie Saab. With Saab’s collections, we always know what we’re getting ourselves into – romantic, fantastical, ultra-feminine, impeccable craft – and we’re always amazed. The designer’s beautiful Spring 2025 show was no exception, wowing us anew while putting an impressionistic twist on his signature practice and introducing some exciting new directions.
Perhaps influenced by a nod to impressionist painting, Saab’s atelier crafted an ephemeral vision that captured the delicate elusiveness of a garden reflected on the surface of water. Feathered flowers cascade from shoulders; sheer silks cocoon the body with aquatic softness; intricate beading catches the light like water in sunshine. The color palette delicately roams across soft blush and blues to a moment of vivid citrine.
Though it moves much slower than ready-to-wear, couture does still have trends, and recently couture has taken on fashion’s tendency toward deconstruction and self-referentiality by spotlighting what historically were hidden structural aspects of garments. In many of Saab’s looks, corsetry and boning are brought to the fore, playing just as important a role as the intricate beading and appliqué that dance over them.
But the most progressive aspect of the collection was the switch to indigo denim in the final act. The hardworking fabric that is most classically associated with workwear and a coolly casual Americana sensibility transformed into elegant, fluid forms under Saab’s guidance. But it didn’t lose any of its true blue character, the atelier cleverly made use of the kind of topstitching and finishes you would see on the perfect pair of selvedge jeans even as they transformed it into sculptural, intricately beaded, florally feminine creations. Though haute couture may be timeless, it isn’t static, and here Elie Saab imaginatively unites disparate historical elements to guide the art form forward.
THE DIRECTION
THE WRAP UP
Whether it’s channeling the work of Claude Monet or Levi Strauss (or both), an Elie Saab collection always forms a space that allows us to simply revel in the beauty that human hands are capable of creating. With a perspective that feels both timeless and subtly tuned-in, this latest collection thoroughly offers another such moment.
