Elie Saab Resort 2023

Forget being a Bond girl. The woman Elie Saab designs for takes after 007 agent Nomi or Dr. Madeleine Swann, rather than after any femme fatale. “Many women nowadays have this spirit: They know who they are, what they want and why they’re here,” said the couturier at a preview of his resort collection.

At the same time, Saab also felt that women’s expectations had changed in the wake of the pandemic, balancing a desire to “be beautiful, chic, but also relaxed and cool,” which led him to imagine these long and lean looks with flat shoes or espadrilles, he continued.

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Tying these two ideas together was his proclivities for the ’70s, a decade that Saab considers the most seminal in a woman’s style for its enduring connection to growing freedoms and flattering silhouettes.

Cue a collection looking to address multiple facets of her daily activities through elevated mix-and-match options, ranging from knit crop tops paired with high-waisted bottoms to puffy-sleeved jumpsuits and slinky maxidresses with graphic metal adornments.

The black-and-white palette was livened up by a bracing dose of lime, a color he described as refreshing like a glass of Champagne and a modern, flattering color for most skin tones. Dégradé effects likewise gave classic patterns like houndstooth or stripes a twist.

The brand’s monogram, still somewhat of a novelty, was worked in a variety of ways, from the allover print on a navy-to-lime pleated dress with a pussy bow neckline, to more subtle interpretations as an embossed detail on a pocket or breezy guipure lace.

If glamorous fare is par for the course here, of-the-moment options like a long hooded parka and a blouson overlaid with tone-on-tone lace hit the right note between streetwise and statement. A sure sign that whoever and wherever his well-client is, Saab knows what she wants as well as she does.

Launch Gallery: Elie Saab Resort 2023

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