Elie Saab Fall 2026 Couture: Having a Ball

by · WWD
Elie Saab Fall 2026 Couture Collection at Paris Fashion WeekCourtesy of Elie Saab

As luxury consumers move toward more casualness and ease, Elie Saab’s answer was not to scale back on the fantasy of couture, but to go all in.

His latest collection looked to the mythology of the grand masked parties — from Truman Capote’s legendary Black and White Ball to the glamour of Elizabeth Taylor and Old Hollywood.

The mask was less a symbol of concealment and mystery than one of transformation, with which women can reveal different facets of themselves, Saab said.

Cue velvet corseted gowns, sumptuous brocades and cinched-waist New Look silhouettes alongside fluid tuxedos and sharply tailored trousers for women, while embellished jackets and capes extended Saab’s growing couture offering for men. A minidress with an enormous oversized bow added a sense of playful fun.

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Ornamentation felt more restrained than in previous seasons, with craftsmanship expressed through luxurious fabrics, sculptural pleating and color rather than dense embroidery.

There was plenty of dégradé, with colors melting into one another as Saab played with the palette as champagne melted into pink, ruby into onyx and slate into sky. The shifting tones gave the gowns a sense of movement.

There was little appetite for reinvention, and Saab’s precision was impeccable, as always.

If the collection looked nostalgically toward the grand balls of the past, couture supports the business and that is decidedly moving forward.

Chief Executive Elie Saab Jr. outlined a five-year strategy centered on expanding the brand’s ready-to-wear business and growing its global retail footprint.

The privately held company has had around 30 percent annual growth over the past five years, said Saab Jr., and is now positioning itself for what it calls its “Vision 2030,” building an ecosystem that now spans couture, bridal, ready-to-wear, lifestyle and hospitality categories.

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While demand across parts of the Middle East softened during the year due to the geopolitical situation, Saab Jr. said that stronger performance in the U.S. — where he said its New York flagship doubled its sales in the second quarter — offset the slowdown.

Saab Jr. said the business is now catching up with the brand’s global name recognition, particularly in ready-to-wear, which is increasingly attracting younger clients while couture customers now have new categories with which to engage with the house beyond occasion dressing.

The expansion continues at pace. A new boutique opens in Riyadh on Thursday, Miami will follow later this month, and the brand will enter India with its first Delhi store before the end of the year.