Latest update: 30/01/2009 

- Paris Fashion Week


Japanese inspiration for Elie Saab
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Lebanese designer Elie Saab unveiled a Japanese-tinged spring-summer haute couture collection at Paris Fashion Week. The collection's palette was a little more muted than usual but made no concessions to austerity.

AFP - Elie Saab's show in the Palais de Tokyo modern art museum on Wednesday was jam-packed, with photographers jostling to grab shots of celebrities in front-row seats, including the rapper Kanye West, actress Mischa Barton and burlesque artiste Dita von Teese.

Saab's collection for spring-summer 2009 made no concessions to austerity, even though the palette was more subdued than usual, centering on dusky pastels, beige, blossom pink, pearl grey, jade and lilac.

He wound rich brocades, lame, and embossed silks into glamorous evening frocks, their dramatic silhouettes inspired by the Japanese kimono with wide-cut sleeves and obi sashes.

Bodices bristled with Swarovski crystals, which also spangled the floor-sweeping trains.

Whorls of chiffon flowers edging hemlines, a giant crystal bauble adorning a bare back, rhinestones twinkling on cap sleeves, all conveyed a sense of unadulterated luxury.

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