Paris Haute Couture: Elie Saab shows red carpet couture

Lebanese designer Elie Saab has been famous for his red carpet expertise ever since Halle Berry wore one of his gowns in 2002 when she became the first woman of color to collect a lead actress Oscar. In recent years, there’s hardly been a female A-lister who hasn’t turned up in one of his awards-perfect creations.

Numbering among them have been Katy Perry, Emma Stone, Beyoncé, Lea Michele, Taylor Swift, Emily Blunt, Mila Kunis, Rihanna, Angelina Jolie, Amy Adams, Rose Byrne and Nina Dobrev. Just since the start of 2014, long and short Saab dresses have been seen on Helen Mirren, Lupita Nyong’o of “12 Years a Slave,” Taissa Farmiga of “The Bling Ring,” and Margot Robbie of “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

So it came as no surprise that Saab’s 2014 spring/summer haute couture collection, shown at the Theatre National de Chaillot in Paris on Wednesday, featured dramatic gowns that were lavishly embroidered, appliquéd with delicate, three-dimensional flowers and splashed with crystals. Headlined in the program as “The Promise of Spring,” the collection featured feminine floral tones of pink, blue, lilac, rose, purple and white, while not completely ignoring the perennially popular, classic black gown.

There to watch the show were Bond girl Olga Kurylenko, Spanish actress Paz Vega, French actresses Marie-Joseé Croze, Anne Marivin and Clotilde Courau, models Audrey Marnay and Tanya Dziahileva, Belgian actress Deborah Francois and L.A.’s Cameron Silver, owner of the “Decades” vintage boutique. In his Mongolian lamb hat, silver suit and multicolored coat by Kazakh designer Yekaterina Ivankova, he joked with reporters, “I didn’t want to attract attention,” adding after a beat, “Next time, I’ll be bold.”

Ellen Olivier is founder of Society News LA.

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