BEVERLY HILLS — Elie Saab takes the expression “Go big or go home” seriously. The Lebanese couturier and ready-to-wear designer, who, at the relatively young age of 50 has been in business for 32 years, made his first public appearance in the U.S. here last week, followed by a starlet-studded dinner a day later.
The whirlwind visit was a harbinger of things to come — Elie Saab Group hopes to open stores in Beverly Hills and New York City soon as well as deepen its relationships with retail partners such as Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus.
“When we go for development, we like to be big in our scale and our vision. It is not like we want to be shy. We want to be present here and more powerful,” said Saab over coffee at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire Hotel. As he looked out the street-level picture window at Rodeo Drive, he said, “I feel this is now the right time for the company to be aggressive in the States, not because of the market, which is always very consistent for luxury, but because it’s the right time for our company to take it to the next level. And with all this development we have, we try to open our shops also. I hope we can do that soon.”
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Saab pointed out that his plan is more far-reaching than simply opening two flagships on the coasts: he’s been studying the U.S. market for years, with plans to bring an entire in-house infrastructure to the U.S., from sales to public relations. He also didn’t want to embark on the trunk-show circuit without firmly establishing points of sale here. The company’s plan is to double its U.S. wholesale business in the next few years. Elie Saab has 100 doors of wholesalers worldwide, including 20 in the U.S. and nine company-owned retail stores.
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Wednesday’s runway presentation of his spring rtw collection at Neiman’s, cohosted by women and children’s organization The Blue Ribbon of the Los Angeles Music Center, was also part of Saab’s philosophy of meaningful events.
“Me, I don’t like to present my collection outside of fashion week if there’s not a charity related to the presentation. I don’t like to present to present,” he said. “It’s the strategy of the company that we go outside of Paris Fashion Week to support a foundation.” Blue Ribbon president and couture customer Carla Sands called the event “extremely special,” and she’s hosted many around town. The most obvious indicator was the standing ovation Saab received during the finale from the 250 women at the seated luncheon in the designer salon.
The lunch and show were preceded by a step-and-repeat during which many of them clamored to be photographed with Saab, and he linked arms with nearly everyone. “All these women, they come to our shop in Paris, especially the haute couture clients. Not all, but many, are longtime clients in both Paris and Neiman Marcus. I feel such a warm welcome here,” he said.
“For every designer, you have be out in front of the customer to understand how she is living. Elie gets out there to dress women internationally. He is very smart to make sure he is out amongst his clients when he has the ability,” said Ken Downing, Neiman’s fashion director and senior vice president.
Downing also noted that without walking among clients, a designer has a hard time knowing what the customer wants — and what she wants lately are clothes that transition from day to night. The success of Saab’s rtw collection — what Downing likes to call “dinner dressing, or something that’s not as over-the-top as cocktail or gala but that blurs the lines from day into late day and evening,” stems from meeting clients’ needs.
“Now the daywear and accessories, we try to develop more and more. We knew before that women wanted evening bags to wear with gowns, but we like that a woman can spend the day wearing what we produce from the morning until the evening,” the designer said. For instance, the brand debuted a day handbag collection called Poincaré in July, named after its Paris store location.
Saab’s group communications manager, Emilie Legendre, who sometimes translates for the designers, pointed out that “even celebrities have been asking about shoes and bags to wear, even with just a pair of jeans. When you feel so much desire and demand it’s time for us to fulfill it.”
That mandate was on display Thursday night at Beverly Hills eatery Il Cielo, which the company rented out to host a 70-person dinner for stylists and actresses. “Literally almost everyone we know is in the room,” said stylist Jennifer Rade, who has dressed longtime client Angelina Jolie in several Saab creations. There was also Taylor Swift’s longtime stylist Joseph Cassell, Emily Blunt’s longtime stylist Jessica Paster (there with Blunt herself), Elizabeth Stewart, Rachel Zoe, Tara Swennen, Rob Zangardi and Mariel Haenn, Jeffrey Kim, Estee Stanley and Ryan Hastings.
Actress Ahna O’Reilly wore her first beaded Saab gown to her first Cannes premiere, for “Fruitvale Station” last year.
“I think the attention to the individual really comes through in his work and there’s something so sumptuous and delicious about his designs, whether it’s shorts [she was wearing a blue pair from the spring 2014 collection] or a beautiful wedding gown, he really does it all,” said O’Reilly.
In fact, most actresses at the dinner were dressed to show off Saab’s more casual side, whether it was Blunt’s black pantsuit with long beaded lace sleeves, the romper version worn by Lily Collins, Hailee Steinfeld’s minimal viscose teal dress or Ellen Pompeo’s white pantsuit.
“It’s the equivalent to putting a name to a face,” said Steinfeld of the evening. “You see their process and where they come from. Even just meeting him and his family [Saab’s wife Claudine and son Elie Jr. were present] you can tell he’s a very personal and very caring person. You get so excited when you realize how many people are involved and what it takes to create something beautiful.”
Said Saab, whose brand awareness multiplied after he dressed Oscar winner Halle Berry for the 2002 ceremony, “My presence here can help the relationships with stylists and celebrities because we get to know each other.”
In terms of the impact of red-carpet dressing on his business, he noted that most clients were there before the 2002 Oscars. “It makes the name more popular, but we have been in L.A. since 1996. I feel it’s more image than commercial impact.”
Accessories, with the potential to become about 60 to 70 percent of what is estimated to be a $200 million business across fashion and fragrance, do have a commercial impact. Last year Saab hired vice president Mauro Grimaldi from Ferragamo (before that he was at Valentino) in part because of his knowledge of accessories. “I think we can grow not just 100 percent but 1,000 percent,” said Grimaldi. “The first step is department stores.”
Fragrance — the first of five by Beauté Prestige International was launched in 2011 — is also a significant earner. With each fragrance (Le Parfum, Eau de Toilette, L’Eeau Couture and Eau de Parfum Intense) estimated to have annual global retail sales of $25 million in very tight distribution channels, the potential, particularly in the Middle East, is significant. A fifth fragrance, called Resort Collection, is due in the spring. And a pure perfume, the most expensive type of scent, hasn’t even been developed yet. Saab said cosmetics won’t happen in the next five years.
He’s also looking ahead to the next generation, literally. Oldest son Elie Jr., 24, has developed the designer’s digital business.
“It was just a natural thing to do, and we were one of the first brands to have a social media department four or five years ago,” said Elie Jr. “We got to a point where we need more to say more in a different form, which is less institutional, so we decided to add an online magazine this year, which really gives more depth to the brand and better storytelling to the consumer. We see that people want more and more from us and they want to understand how and when and where and what we are up to, so we give it to them in a format that’s very editorial and less blog.”
The younger Saab is connecting with his generation, one that he believes is no stranger to luxury. “Generally speaking, a lot of our generation grew up with luxury and now they are interested in more and this is where they start looking at brands like us which are more exclusive, less institutional. The way we see it in China now, they have a big interest in the brand because the Chinese customer is over this branded luxury; they want something more. This is where we can come in.”
He added, “Today a lot of the youth are really looking up to bloggers-slash-socialites and all these influencers. They’re not really credible as journalists, but they do what they do. And a lot of them are customers. By choosing them and having them close to the brand and collaborating with them on a very friendly basis, this is how we push the brand and get closer to the street. For example, we recently did a collaboration with the Coveteur and Chiara Ferragni of The Blonde Salad.”
So what does the elder Saab think of going public, or even selling his company one day?
“One day, sure,” he laughs. We have a lot we want to build. And we’ve had a lot of proposals. We are interested to hear from people because we must have someone to support us because we have a lot of investment to put in the next few years. But I will always keep control of my company.”