Paris Haute Couture Week: Elie Saab’s gender-bending autumn/winter 2022-23 show featured men sweeping down the runway in red carpet-ready gowns and capes

Jul 12 , 2022

A model presents a creation by designer Elie Saab as part of his haute couture autumn/winter 2022-2023 collection show in Paris, France, on July 6. Photo: Reuters

Men swept down Elie Saab’s haute couture runway on Wednesday, July 6, in voluminous capes teeming with feathers and glittering beadwork – adding extra flash and new energy to the Lebanese designer’s line-up of signature, red carpet-ready dresses for women.

Elie Saab presented his men’s looks right after the first dress that opened the house’s women’s haute couture autumn/ winter 2022-2023 Fashion Week in Paris on July 6. Photo: AFP

A dramatic red dress with a sweeping train from Elie Saab’s women’s haute couture autumn/winter 2022-2023 collection presented at Paris Fashion Week, on July 6. Photo: Xinhua

“People who come to us for this type of style, they want to be spectacular – it’s the same for men and women,” Saab said in an interview after the show, as guests swarmed around to greet him.

Elie Saab’s women’s haute couture autumn/winter 2022-2023 collection presented at Paris Fashion Week, on July 6, featured plenty of sheer details. Photo: Xinhua

Elie Saab blurred gender boundaries in his women’s haute couture autumn/winter 2022-2023 collection, presented at Paris Fashion Week, on July 6, with men donning gowns on the runway too. Photo: Xinhua

Puffed fabric and shimmering details in an Elie Saab look from his women’s haute couture autumn/winter 2022-23 collection, presented at Paris Fashion Week, on July 6. Photo: Xinhua

“We have a lot of demand from clients, but this is the first time we’ve shown it on the runway.”

A striking men’s coat with green details from Elie Saab’s women’s haute couture autumn/winter 2023 Fashion Week in Paris on July 6. Photo: AFP

Elie Saab’s first male model for its haute couture autumn/winter 2022-2023 collection, presented at Fashion Week in Paris on July 6, donned a dramatic, sweeping cape with zigzagging red and black feathers. Photo: AFP

The designer strutted out his men’s looks fast on the heels of the wide-skirted dress that opened the show. The first male model entered in a sweeping cape adorned with long red and black feathers that curled up at the ends, arranged in a stark zigzag pattern.

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Other male models followed with embellished coats and capes thrown over black or gold suits, sprinkled into the collection of the label’s distinct, feminine styles.

A close-up of some of the detailed beadwork from Elie Saab’s women’s haute couture autumn/winter 2022-23 collection presented at Paris Fashion Week, on July 6. Photo: AFP

A stunning gold and white look from Elie Saab’s women’s haute couture autumn/winter 2022-23 collection, presented at Paris Fashion Week, on July 6. Photo: AFP

A daring black dress with a high slit and plunging neckline from Elie Saab’s women’s haute couture autumn/winter 2023 collection, presented in Fashion Week in Paris, on July 6. Photo: AFP

For women, there were sheer, fitted dresses dripping with lace and glittering beadwork while long, floor-sweeping ball gowns had puffs of ostrich feathers augmenting the shoulders. Embellishments ran down to the fingertips, applied to sheer, skin-coloured gloves.

Some gowns from Elie Saab’s women’s haute couture autumn/winter 2023 collection, presented in Fashion Week in Paris, on July 6, featured ostrich feathers at the shoulders. Photo: Xinhua

Elie Saab’s floor-sweeping ball gowns featured plenty of glittering beadwork, presented in his haute couture autumn/winter 2022-2023 collection show in Paris, France, on July 6. Photo: Reuters

One particularly striking men’s coat had a stylised python pattern, delineated in beadwork, both grand and reptilian.

Lebanese fashion designer Elie Saab acknowledges the audience at the end of his show as part of the women’s haute couture autumn/winter 2022-2023 Fashion Week in Paris, on July 6. (Photo by Geoffroy Van der Hasselt / AFP)

Known for intricate craftsmanship, haute couture houses are increasingly catering to men.

In a high profile example, Balenciaga designer Demna Gvasalia introduced made-to-measure pieces for men and women last year when he resumed the Kering-owned label’s couture line for the first time in over half a century.

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Paris Fashion Week: Haute Couture

Men showed off sharp suits and feathery capes while women strutted in shimmering dresses embellished with fine beadwork at the Lebanese designer’s show
The fashion maison may be known for its feminine style, but both male and female customers covet the show-stopping looks – this is the first time that’s been reflected on the runway