Elie Saab SS27 Finds Power in the Art of Revealing Less
Inspired by the allure of old Hollywood, Elie Saab creates a wardrobe where romance, movement and sensuality become one
There is an unmistakable intimacy to Elie Saab’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection. Titled À Fleur de Peau, the collection approaches femininity not through distance or spectacle, but through closeness — to the body, to the skin, and to the emotion that exists between clothing and the woman wearing it.
Editorial Reproduction/ Elie Saab
Inspired by the effortless allure of Jean Harlow, Saab revisits a particularly cinematic idea of glamour: sensual, polished and never entirely rigid. The collection moves with the body rather than imposing itself upon it. Liquid gowns skim the silhouette, delicate layers reveal what lies beneath, while lace, fine straps and trailing linings create the impression that each garment is slowly unfolding in motion.
What makes the collection compelling is the way Saab treats sensuality as something tactile rather than overt. Transparency is softened by layering; lingerie becomes part of the architecture of the look; asymmetry introduces a sense of imperfection into otherwise highly refined silhouettes. There is a deliberate feeling of something coming undone — a hem shifting, a layer slipping, a detail appearing almost by accident.
Yet nothing feels accidental. Saab’s craftsmanship remains visible in the precision of the construction and the delicacy of the embellishment. Romance is carefully engineered, allowing the collection to move between the intimacy of the boudoir and the grandeur for which the house is known.
Rather than reinventing femininity, SS27 seems interested in remembering why certain images of glamour continue to endure. The woman imagined by Saab does not need volume or theatricality to command attention. Her presence comes through movement, texture and the suggestion of something private made visible.
À Fleur de Peau ultimately feels like a study in closeness. It is fashion that does not simply decorate the body, but follows its contours, its gestures and its vulnerability. In a season increasingly drawn to exposure and immediacy, Elie Saab chooses something more delicate: the art of revealing without giving everything away.
The result is a collection that feels deeply characteristic of the house, yet quietly refreshed — romantic without nostalgia, sensual without excess, and glamorous in the most enduring sense of the word.
