Spring 2026 Haute Couture: Elie Saab’s Modern Nomads

Paris Couture Week

30 Jan

Elie Saab’s Spring/Summer 2026 haute couture collection draws on the relaxed glamour of 1970s jet-set culture, traced across a geography that moves between the Mediterranean and North Africa. The result is a vision of eveningwear conceived for movement: fluid, luminous and deliberately less formal in spirit.

Silhouettes are elongated and narrow, cut close to the body without traditional corsetry. Instead, structure is carried by dense beadwork and sequins that act as both ornament and armature. Linear and geometric embroidery reinforces the vertical line, while recurring open backs—often traced with embroidered straps or fine beaded chains—integrate exposed skin into the construction of the garment.

Material experimentation defines the collection. Leather is treated as embellishment rather than support, sliced into fine strips and woven into macramé-like surfaces that read as jewellery. Metallic mesh, crystal nets and layered sequins create reflective planes that shift with light and motion. Silk chiffon appears in ombré gradients, subtly changing tone as the fabric moves. Feathered coats and sleeveless gilets are layered over slip dresses, introducing contrast between weightless gowns and more tactile outer elements.

The palette remains restrained, centred on gold, bronze, sand, beige and soft metallic silver, with variation achieved through texture and luminosity rather than colour. The interplay of artificial and natural light is central to the collection’s visual impact.

The closing bridal look extends this approach: a beige rosé slip gown interwoven with lace and embroidered with stones, paired with an ethereal veil. Like the collection as a whole, it favours fluidity and surface detail over rigid construction, reinforcing a vision of couture defined by craftsmanship, lightness and ease.

Spring/Summer 2026 marks a continuation rather than a reinvention for Elie Saab: haute couture grounded in meticulous craftsmanship, but articulated with a looser, more nomadic sensibility, where technique serves movement and light as much as spectacle.