coutorture --

Elie Saab Goes Down The Only Road He's Ever Known

coutorture — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:08:43 -0700

Keeping a straight face about couture can be extremely troublesome. What looks like masterful performance from one designer can look like campy missteps. And then sometimes you can't tell. Elie Saab traditionally stays conservative with couture, creating gowns that function superbly for that rarefied couture consumer that requires a few compelling details grounded by simple construction that set her apart at only the most important state events. And while this particular collection didn't really stray from his core competency, your editors found ourselves drawing a few strange parallels.

"Everything is just so.....puffy. Big hair, big bows, big dresses"

"Yeah, its very Dynasty. No wait! Its Whitesnake!"

"Holy crap, the entire collection just reeks of 80s hair band. Take a look at this video for Here I Go Again On My Own."

"Gosh, that collection really evokes this video. Take a look at the red headed chick in the video and tell me she doesn't look familiar?. Heck, this dress was totally in the video.

"The chick is straddling the car, kicking her legs up on the air, she is practically masturbating on it . Its very you are SEXY. The cutaways to the girls in the video are very reminiscent of catwalk directions. Now walk that runway and STRUT. A gay casting director couldn't have gotten a better result."

"Yeah, It has no real purpose except for her to pretend at some sort of sexy performance."

"Huh, sort of like couture."

Embedding is disabled so to watch Whitesnake please click here

Fashion in 50 Seconds 6/10

coutorture — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 07:09:39 -0700

Fashion never stands still, even when your editors are in a whirl of travel plans gone awry. Lebanese couturier Elie Saab is designing signature luxury hotels with Dubai real estate developer Tatweer, starting with a high-end boutique hotel at The Tiger Woods Dubai resort. This adds Saab to a growing list of fashion designer or firms such as Giorgio Armani, Christian Lacroix, Versace, Salvatore Ferragamo and Bulgari, who all have or are developing luxury hotel projects.

Barney's plans to open its fourth store in Japan in the city of Kobe.

The CFDA is still concerned about model health.

All of that excitement over China? Yeah, that obscures the real picture of just how hard it is to make it in retail or fashion over there.
Express decides to go all Mise en abyme thanks to Lloyd (+ Co) and their Peter Lindbergh shot advertising campaign. And while we like to make a little Hamlet joke it feels just a little too Ophelia. The concept of the campaign — models cavorting on the beach — is only part of the story. What are those tripods doing on the beach, and that fan? Express wants to give viewers the feeling of being behind the scenes at a photo shoot. The campaign's conceit is to have the gear used to make fashion images, such as backdrops, light stands and cables, intentionally visible in each shot.

Elie Saab Fall 2008 Fashion Show Video and Designer Interview

coutorture — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:24:59 -0800

Elie Saab is feeling "new" this season with an exploration of new volume and fabrics.

Color was his key takeaway with greens, blues, and reds holding the attention. And it being fall that naturally lent itself to dramatic emotions all around.