Elie Saab had a good night at the Oscars. No less a superstar than Angelina Jolie wore an haute couture dress by the Lebanese designer. Coming off a coup like that, it's no surprise he was inclined to focus on his eveningwear formula at his ready-to-wear presentation today. Saab called the collection Dark Opulence and said he was looking at the work of Mark Rothko. The artist's Color Field paintings made up a template of sorts for the designer's ombré effects. Bands of merlot and black colored a long strapless gown cut from ribbed silk, and a deep stripe of black bisected a pale rose tunic in the same material. These graphic looks felt new for Saab, who tends to prefer monochromatic color schemes. The dégradé velvets and chiffons of a long-sleeve minidress and a halter-neck evening number were less unexpected but quite pretty in a low-key way. Saab's print this season, a painterly floral with brushstrokes for petals, felt likewise subdued, probably because its background was black. He saved the opulence for the end, closing with a group of burgundy, emerald green, or black dresses densely embroidered with paillettes. The black one with the thigh-high slit had Jolie's name all over it.
