Greening Paris: Elie Saab's Delight In The 70's

06 October, 2010

Elie Saab's Delight In The 70's

Elie Saab's Paris Spring Summer '11 collection shown today in the Jardin des Tuileries is what the designer is calling his "70's Delight." The line of soft neutrals is a color palette the designer was inspired to draw on from his boyhood memories of glamorous women from the 70s. "I remember women wearing these colors. They are colors more refined, light, powdery." Nude, sable, salmon, silver, stone gray, slate - this is the palette of Saab's Spring Summer collection this year.

Saab's Spring Summer show today floated you onto a boat moored in St. Tropez Bay where nude-backed women glide along yacht decks delicately draped and exposed in flowing, wispy trains of long salmon-colored georgette dresses and whispering silver chiffon tunics.

"I wanted to work with a different style of woman for this collection; A woman who works at home, a woman who vacations on a yacht, a woman who attends evening soirees. I didn't want to use too many muses this time," confided Saab after the show.

Accessories made a big debut on the Elie Saab Paris fashion runway today. Navel-reaching gold chains dangling heavy pendants decorated the occasional plunging neckline. Gold cuffs worn on both wrists provided just the accent for the sable, salmon and smoky white one-piece jumpsuits, shorts suits and floor-length gowns.

"Accessories are a big development for the house," commented Saab. "We emphasized our accessories this year in the line for that reason." Salmon-suede clutch trimmed with metal and a jewel of a bag covered in crystals, also textured with tone-on-tone stone gray leather interlacing could be seen being coveted by the catwalking and stunning models with free-flowing coiffed hair.

When asked which celebrities would wear his creations best this year, he responded, "Any who like the line." Dita Von Teese, a self-described "closet environmentalist" sat in the front row. The line for this season is ultra-feminine and looks like it would feel delightful to wear and to walk in. The ultra-petite and feminine Von Teese could easily strap on a pair of the chunky-heeled suede matching sandals and sway down the length of a yacht and into an all-night soiree.

The collection's colors evoke the exuberance of Bahia. The designs evoke the Rockstar era of 70s St. Tropez Jagger excess. Music for the show was by Michel Gaubert who played Rolling Stone's "Emotional Rescue" and such 70s era classics. Hair by Orlando Pita and team; Makeup by Tom Pecheux and team using MAC Pro.