Resort, says Elie Saab on the phone from Lebanon, is a “play between image and commercial.” The poster girl of this collection is nominally the Bond Girl. Saab stresses that the reference isn’t literal. What he extracted from that trope was a way of being in the world—strong and confident—and a smorgasbord of ’60s references, including geometric minis, Marguerite embroideries (very Saint-Tropez), a psychedelic print, and dresses with jewelry-like hardware that have a jauntiness one might expect of an Aki or a Honey Rider.
Speaking of prints, Saab has gone all in on logos for resort, citing the success of earlier versions. These dip heavily toward the commercial end of the spectrum. In contrast an abstraction of his sinuous logo into a design motif was a solid win.
The designer is a romantic at heart, and no Saab collection would be complete without a touch of romance. That’s delivered via some beautifully beaded dresses that bring together the season’s palette of chartreuse, lilac, white, and blue, in a composition as sparkling and lovely as Claude Monet’s impressionist Water Lily paintings, which they vaguely resemble.
