Maison Rabih Kayrouz

As much as his style is about purity of lines, ingenious cut and volumes as  airy as they’re exact, there’s always an element of sensuous fluidity to Rabih  Kayrouz’s design. The garments are built with a feel for movement that doesn’t  leave space for any stiffness, no matter how rigorous their construction may  be.

“I think about the woman, I like to dress her for her real life,” Kayrouz  explained at a showroom appointment where he presented both his ready-to-wear  and couture collections. He doesn’t work based on specific inspirations  (“everything inspires me,” he said), he doesn’t have themes, and moodboards are  absent from the equation. “For me design isn’t a mood, but a thought, a  consideration,” he said. Kayrouz also has a strong aversion to everything  ornamental and decorative. “I don’t like the grand turn of phrase, I don’t like  artifice, I like things very essential in everything I do,” he added. “And I  don’t want to imagine a woman different from what she is; I don’t want to  déguise her, or constrain her. I don’t live dans un fantasme, running after an  abstract idea of what a woman should be.”

The two collections Kayrouz presented spoke a shared language, and it was  interesting to see how he worked on the same shapes and volumes, giving  ready-to-wear pieces an inventive haute couture twist, while keeping couture  anchored to a more IRL vision. Everyday pieces looked elevated, while couture  gestures didn’t feel grand, but rather polished yet cool. One of the best  examples was a voluminous trapeze-shaped sweeping evening gown proposed in  dramatic black taffeta for the couture line, while its ready-to-wear version was  made in breezy recycled polyester in a delicate shade of duck egg.

Sculptural shapes alternated with more fluid ones in both lines. A couture  black jacket/cape had an egg-shaped back and straight-slit sleeves, and was  paired with slightly flared trousers for a chic suiting proposition. In the  ready-to-wear line, a standout was a sinuous draped number in emerald jersey,  with a plunging neckline and ballooning sleeves in crispy, papery recycled  polyester.

For both propositions, a slightly sporty feel was reworked through Kayrouz’s  elegant restraint, adding dynamism. But do not expect radical introductions of  trends into Kayrouz’s lexicon: “I’ve always been faithful to my style,” he  mused. “For me, style is evolution, not disruption.”Read more at:robe de  soirée courte chic (Abre numa nova janela) | formal  dress (Abre numa nova janela)