In a departure, fall couture found Zuhair Murad in a contemplative mood. Where often he gives into the temptations of over-embellishment, here the designer instead said he was thinking about women relative to their days, weeks, and years. By plumbing philosophical and psychological states, he sought to conjure a rawer, edgier kind of beauty.
“Going deeper is very new,” the designer allowed backstage in the minutes before the show. “I’m used to immersing collections in nature or culture, but now I felt it was more pertinent to delve into a woman’s character, and what she lives every day.” Such reflections might elicit fluctuations by the hour or over the arc of a lifetime.
School and friends, love stories and expectations, emotion and reaction are all a part of the mix. “Sometimes she’s serene, sometimes she’s emotional, sometimes she’s a little crazy—but she’s passionate about her life and she wants to enjoy it. That’s the woman I want to talk about with this collection,” he offered.
The runway revealed a broader range than usual. An opening top heavily embroidered in pearls and a fully beaded pantsuit that swished and clattered as the model walked were meant to be as uplifting and distracting as a glass of champagne. That notion continued in various iterations of gradient embellishment, for example in gold, copper, and pearlescent beads cast against transparent tulle or shiny, fully sequined black beaded numbers. Further along, a funnel-neck jacket embroidered with shards stood out in a series that looked moody and a bit rock-and-roll: yes, it was luxe, but it had grit. Other numbers, among them a crimson halter gown or a caped violet dress, were slashed in a way that suggested what the designer described as “a lioness who carries the scars of a life and emerges all the stronger.”
Murad hardly considers himself a psychologist—that’s an entirely different domain—but his musings about transforming and elevating past trials and tribulations made for a thoughtful collection. If ever a desire to smash things to smithereens becomes too overwhelming to repress, Murad just wants his ladies to know that he’s on hand to pick up the pieces and turn it into something eye-catching to wear.
