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CNN Saturday Morning News

Profile of Elie Saab

Aired October 25, 2003 - 07:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Like a flower growing in the desert, designer Elie Saab popped up on the fashion scene in a spectacular way and has gone from designing wedding dresses for the women of Beirut to glamour gowns for Hollywood's elite.
Brent Sadler has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An Emmy Award for Debra Messing.

DEBRA MESSING: Thank you very much.

SADLER: Best actress in the American sitcom, "Will and Grace," shining in a dress made for the red carpet, created by the same man whose stellar designs appeared on the backs of all these stars for their big night. The common thread, Elie Saab, a Lebanese designer who was catapulted to international fame on the back of just one costume less than two years ago. But it was one of the most talked about dresses at last year's Oscar ceremony, worn by Halle Berry when she, too, picked up a best actress award.

ELIE SAAB, FASHION DESIGNER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): She saw the dress. She liked the dress and decided to wear it on an occasion that was important to her.

SADLER: Vitally important, too, for Elie Saab, who found fame in the Middle East but was no household name, like Valentino or Versace. Since the Oscars, though, a 20 year career has blossomed, bearing fruit in a variety of ways. Elie Saab dresses cars as well as women, with his signature interior design on the limited edition of a car which carries his name. He explains that cars and fashion share a passion for design. So, too, does Elie Saab.

SAAB (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): What matters to me is a woman's conviction that the dress she's wearing and being happy in what she sees.

SADLER: It's here at his Atelier (ph) in Beirut that Elie Saab creates the material magic. Coming up with designs that adorn the shoulders of celluloid stars and Arabian queens, including a dress that Queen Rania of Jordan wore the day she was crowned.

SAAB (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I like the feeling when I see Queen Rania. It's not just because she is a queen, but she's showing a picture of a woman from the East. I find it a beautiful image of a woman.

SADLER: The vital statistics of his top au couture clients are all kept here, the details a closely guarded secret. So, too, the price tags. As a guide, though, start multiplying upwards from $10,000. His language, like his work, is a fusion of Arabic mother tongue mixed with heavily French accented English.

SAAB: All this collection, it's Oriental, Arabic Oriental inspiration. It's the first time I do this in my life. I like too much the combination between colors and gold.

SADLER: Most of the 250 wedding dresses and 400 evening gowns that Elie Saab creates in a year are sewn in Beirut.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You get that sort of Queen of Sheba, Cleopatra, that whole slightly exotic. He does have a fantastic understanding of celebrity dressing.

SADLER: But it hasn't always been so easy for people to follow Elie Saab's lead, especially his parents. As a teenager growing up in prewar Lebanon, men and dress making simply did not mix.

SAAB (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I understand why my family didn't want this. There was no background for his profession in Lebanon and the Middle East.

SADLER: But the teenage Saab broke through the barriers, winning approval from a skeptical family, establishing his business at the age of just 18, in the middle of Lebanon's civil war. His balcony overlooks areas that saw heavy fighting and his work was often interrupted by the conflict.

(on camera): You'll remember, as well as I do, that during the war, you know, you saw a lot of action here.

SAAB: Yes, yes. Oh, of course.

SADLER: And you said your studio was hit, Al-Zalkar (ph), twice with shells?

SAAB: Yes. Yes.

SADLER (voice-over): Beirut, though, remains at the heart of his inspiration, living here with his wife Claudine and their three children. But he's constantly on the move, traveling between fashion centers in Italy, France and the United States. But now he tells me there's a chance Elie Saab will turn his talents on us men, determined, he says, to add the masculine to his feminine repertoire of style.

(on camera): How serious are you about switching to men as well as women?

SAAB: Well, I'm serious. SADLER: I mean, for example, me with this shirt on. What would you do with this shirt? What's wrong with this shirt? Is it good?

SAAB: I don't know.

SADLER: What's wrong with it?

SAAB: Too big, too, no shape. I like shaping it.

SADLER: OK. But, you know, I have some experience about the fashion world. Did you know that one day...

SAAB: Models?

SADLER: Do you know for one day I was a model?

Now, who's this? This is me.

SAAB: Wow. Wow. The '70s, no?

SADLER: You're absolutely right, in the mid-1970s (UNINTELLIGIBLE). This is rain wear. Just two pictures, only two pictures of my one day as a fashion model.

SAAB: It's a nice picture, no?

SADLER: Is that OK?

SAAB: I like this.

SADLER: All right.

SAAB: It's so elegant.

SADLER (voice-over): But designs exclusively for women remain his fashion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elie Saab is exotic. He's exotic. He's sensual and he really understands a woman's body. I think he wants to make every girl look like the Queen of Sheba. And who wouldn't want to look like her?

SADLER: Who, indeed, if they're dressed by the designer with a Midas touch, who helps them steal the show?

Brent Sadler, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired October 25, 2003 - 07:46   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Like a flower growing in the desert, designer Elie Saab popped up on the fashion scene in a spectacular way and has gone from designing wedding dresses for the women of Beirut to glamour gowns for Hollywood's elite.
Brent Sadler has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An Emmy Award for Debra Messing.

DEBRA MESSING: Thank you very much.

SADLER: Best actress in the American sitcom, "Will and Grace," shining in a dress made for the red carpet, created by the same man whose stellar designs appeared on the backs of all these stars for their big night. The common thread, Elie Saab, a Lebanese designer who was catapulted to international fame on the back of just one costume less than two years ago. But it was one of the most talked about dresses at last year's Oscar ceremony, worn by Halle Berry when she, too, picked up a best actress award.

ELIE SAAB, FASHION DESIGNER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): She saw the dress. She liked the dress and decided to wear it on an occasion that was important to her.

SADLER: Vitally important, too, for Elie Saab, who found fame in the Middle East but was no household name, like Valentino or Versace. Since the Oscars, though, a 20 year career has blossomed, bearing fruit in a variety of ways. Elie Saab dresses cars as well as women, with his signature interior design on the limited edition of a car which carries his name. He explains that cars and fashion share a passion for design. So, too, does Elie Saab.

SAAB (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): What matters to me is a woman's conviction that the dress she's wearing and being happy in what she sees.

SADLER: It's here at his Atelier (ph) in Beirut that Elie Saab creates the material magic. Coming up with designs that adorn the shoulders of celluloid stars and Arabian queens, including a dress that Queen Rania of Jordan wore the day she was crowned.

SAAB (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I like the feeling when I see Queen Rania. It's not just because she is a queen, but she's showing a picture of a woman from the East. I find it a beautiful image of a woman.

SADLER: The vital statistics of his top au couture clients are all kept here, the details a closely guarded secret. So, too, the price tags. As a guide, though, start multiplying upwards from $10,000. His language, like his work, is a fusion of Arabic mother tongue mixed with heavily French accented English.

SAAB: All this collection, it's Oriental, Arabic Oriental inspiration. It's the first time I do this in my life. I like too much the combination between colors and gold.

SADLER: Most of the 250 wedding dresses and 400 evening gowns that Elie Saab creates in a year are sewn in Beirut.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You get that sort of Queen of Sheba, Cleopatra, that whole slightly exotic. He does have a fantastic understanding of celebrity dressing.

SADLER: But it hasn't always been so easy for people to follow Elie Saab's lead, especially his parents. As a teenager growing up in prewar Lebanon, men and dress making simply did not mix.

SAAB (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I understand why my family didn't want this. There was no background for his profession in Lebanon and the Middle East.

SADLER: But the teenage Saab broke through the barriers, winning approval from a skeptical family, establishing his business at the age of just 18, in the middle of Lebanon's civil war. His balcony overlooks areas that saw heavy fighting and his work was often interrupted by the conflict.

(on camera): You'll remember, as well as I do, that during the war, you know, you saw a lot of action here.

SAAB: Yes, yes. Oh, of course.

SADLER: And you said your studio was hit, Al-Zalkar (ph), twice with shells?

SAAB: Yes. Yes.

SADLER (voice-over): Beirut, though, remains at the heart of his inspiration, living here with his wife Claudine and their three children. But he's constantly on the move, traveling between fashion centers in Italy, France and the United States. But now he tells me there's a chance Elie Saab will turn his talents on us men, determined, he says, to add the masculine to his feminine repertoire of style.

(on camera): How serious are you about switching to men as well as women?

SAAB: Well, I'm serious. SADLER: I mean, for example, me with this shirt on. What would you do with this shirt? What's wrong with this shirt? Is it good?

SAAB: I don't know.

SADLER: What's wrong with it?

SAAB: Too big, too, no shape. I like shaping it.

SADLER: OK. But, you know, I have some experience about the fashion world. Did you know that one day...

SAAB: Models?

SADLER: Do you know for one day I was a model?

Now, who's this? This is me.

SAAB: Wow. Wow. The '70s, no?

SADLER: You're absolutely right, in the mid-1970s (UNINTELLIGIBLE). This is rain wear. Just two pictures, only two pictures of my one day as a fashion model.

SAAB: It's a nice picture, no?

SADLER: Is that OK?

SAAB: I like this.

SADLER: All right.

SAAB: It's so elegant.

SADLER (voice-over): But designs exclusively for women remain his fashion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elie Saab is exotic. He's exotic. He's sensual and he really understands a woman's body. I think he wants to make every girl look like the Queen of Sheba. And who wouldn't want to look like her?

SADLER: Who, indeed, if they're dressed by the designer with a Midas touch, who helps them steal the show?

Brent Sadler, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com