Tony Talks Zuhair Murad

Zuhair Murad has been showing in Paris since 2001, although in 1999 he showed at Alta Moda in Rome, and his celebration of the art of haute couture and his development as a couturier has been brilliant to watch.

The history of the house is simple, as the name was established in Beirut in 1997 by Monsieur Murad himself after training in Paris at the school of La Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. He had always drawn and created dresses, so his career was predestined at an early age.

He was born in Baalbek in the Lebanon to a Melkite Catholic family, and his wedding dresses, for which he is justifiably famous, display his love and respect for the occasion alongside an understanding of the ceremony and the differing demands of each bride for that moment.

His clients come from across the world and include Marion Cotillard, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lopez, Nadine Nassib Njeim, Youssra, Mona Kattan, Raya Abirached, Jessica Kahawaty, Najwa Karam, Laila Ahmed Zaher, Blake Lively, and Beyoncé. Awards ceremonies, special occasions, and cultural events across the globe endlessly see Zuhair Murad dressing women of style.

Just as Mr Valentino viewed making his clients beautiful as his vocation, so Zuhair Murad also wants the women he dresses to look beautiful. It is fashion, and haute couture but with the client at the centre of the final outcome, the designer is creating the gowns shown in the collection to offer his vision of possibilities. It is an extremely specific creative process where shifts in mood and trends are reflected but not slavishly followed, and where the flow of a drape, or the balance of placing the embroidery is vital to the proportion of a gown on the individual client.

Originally much of the Zuhair Murad look was lavish, and glittering, but across the seasons his confidence has grown, and the embroideries and the silhouettes are amazingly controlled, and the subtle shifts each season delight the viewer. So, what about the collection shown on January 28^th, 2026?

I think the word beautiful must start any description of the show and the clothes, since both the colour palette and the silhouettes were truly deserving of that word. There were several elements in the show that in combination produced a strong reaction from the audience as the designer took his bow. The delicacy of the colours, firstly, often in nuanced shades hard to describe, both because even when strong, the fabrics had a sheen that tricked the eye as they moved and also because they seemed inspired by the tones of nature. Blush pink of a petal, soft green of a leaf, pale blue of surf as it rolls on a shore, the beige of a shell, the grey of mist, it was a beautiful palette that my neighbour agreed would look flattering against the skin. Even white shaded from icy to an ivory tint. Next, the shapes were soft and rounded and swished and trailed and moved around the slender basic lines of the body. The hour glass silhouette was the start and then trains fanned out around and behind the models, panels swept along and drifted behind them, and some cover ups were like bubbles of silk. Embroideries were delicate, even when heavier or more encrusted they had a lightness and were scrolling, climbing and filigree like tendrils on a plant, indeed several looks had floral embroidery but with an eighteenth century feeling to them, perhaps Madame de Pompadour or Rococo. The tracery and curlicues of Baroque seemed to inspire embroideries that glittered and glimmered rather than dazzled. The huge chandelier at the end of the catwalk summoned up a mis en scene lit by candlelight, and the glamour of the collection spoke of confidence, elegance, and allure. The client wearing these clothes will feel all these things plus that other essential element, seductive.

I guess if I’m trying to distill the feeling of the collection I’d say Grace Kelly, if that makes sense? It was elegant but still there was a quiet sexiness, it was rich, but not loud, it spoke just above a whisper. In fact, it was beautiful.

Words by Tony Glenville