Elie Saab's reputation as a red-carpet designer is well earned. Everyone from Jessica Biel to Halle Berry to current Oscar nominee Bérénice Bejo has name-checked him at one awards show or another. But women, even women of the movie star variety, can't live on diamanté-encrusted evening gowns alone. So Saab has been emphasizing daywear in his pre-collections of late. Here, he took a strict, almost minimalist approach, cutting most of his suits and dresses in monotone shades of nude, blue, or black and keeping decorative details like a fox collar, a peplum waist, or contrast piping to a minimum. His formal options followed the same principle: Yes, there was beading, but it came in chevrons of matte and shiny sequins, which gave the form-fitting gowns a modern, graphic feel.
