It will be an understatement to say that Lebanese clothier Elie Saab has a mastery of pink carpet robes. He’s dressed numerous A-listers all through his multi-decade profession: To call just a few, Kate Winslet, Céline Dion, Jennifer Lopez and Catherine, Princess of Wales have all worn his designs to main award reveals, premieres and weddings. And whereas his high fashion robes are a dream to take a look at, most of us can’t handle dropping 5 digits on a single piece.
Effectively, we now have some excellent news: Elie Saab x H&M (sure, H&M!) is coming Oct. 22, and costs vary from $39.99 (for a choker necklace) to $429 (for a leather-based jacket). The gathering consists of occasionwear for ladies and men, plus a mixture of equipment and footwear — all spotlighting what Elie Saab does finest, like sharp tailoring and complicated elaborations.
Saab has by no means accomplished a vogue collaboration fairly like this, translating his signature designs into mass-market items. H&M was the appropriate associate due to its historical past of collaborating with different high-fashion names, resembling Stella McCartney, Giambattista Valli and Lanvin. Plus, “This collaboration got here on the proper time,” CEO Elie Saab Jr. tells Fashionista, “when the model has been increasing considerably in numerous areas, in numerous territories, however most significantly, increasing its ready-to-wear line to accompany that enlargement.”
Talking from Elie Saab’s Paris headquarters, the youthful Saab says the ready-to-wear line is evolving from occasionwear right into a broader way of life assortment, making the H&M partnership a chance to carry that imaginative and prescient to a extra accessible viewers. He additionally cites H&M’s “superb observe file” of translating the imaginative and prescient and DNA of main vogue homes into particular collaborations whereas respecting the manufacturers behind them: “We all know we’re in secure palms.”
Picture: Courtesy of H&M
“There was actual teamwork and such a superb power, and I feel you’ll be able to see [it] within the assortment,” Ann-Sofie Johansson, H&M’s inventive advisor and head of design, womenswear, tells Fashionista. “We all know that our prospects need to have the true Elie Saab… so it ought to by no means be a poorer model of one thing. It ought to be the actual deal; that is essential for each events.”
Saab and his crew labored on the gathering for greater than a yr, making certain each bit stayed true to the “Elie Saab spirit,” the youthful Saab says. This meant not chasing tendencies and sticking to timeless — however by no means boring — vogue.
“We’re very centered [on] the girl we need to costume, how we need to costume her, the place we need to costume her and the flexibility to translate this right into a product that has been continuously evolving with the identical high quality and the identical class and class,” he provides. “We imagine that as we speak prospects need actually the true essence of a model and never what appears to be fashionable.”
Picture: Courtesy of H&M
The elder Saab can’t decide a favourite out of his 54-piece line, as there’s one thing for everybody. “You want a shirt, you’ve got it; you want a cape, you’ve got it; a coat? You’ve got it,” the designer says. Johansson calls the gathering “highly effective” and says she’s keen on the menswear for herself. “We work[ed] very a lot on the match as properly, as a result of that can be some of the essential issues with the home,” she says. “I feel the match empowers you whenever you put on it. You possibly can actually really feel it.”
Picture: Courtesy of H&M
In addition they labored to make sure every accent enhances the garments within the assortment. The lengthy attire, the elder Saab notes, are paired with sky-high platforms.
“We respect what our shoppers love from us,” he says. Whereas the collaboration is anticipated to draw new prospects to the model, the youthful Saab says he additionally expects current Elie Saab shoppers to buy the gathering at H&M. “The primary consumer of this assortment is our consumer,” he provides. “Folks could have a dream piece on this assortment.”
Elie Saab x H&M launches on-line Oct. 22 and in choose H&M shops. Preview the whole assortment beneath.
Disclosure: H&M paid for Fashionista’s journey and lodging to report this story.
