Rabih Kayrouz is one of the few fashion designers to have kept true to his vow of being more environmentally conscious during the Covid-19 pandemic: He has stopped holding fashion shows but still presents his two annual ready-to-wear collections for women by appointment in his Paris atelier on the Left Bank. It's a former theater with large bay windows, hidden in an inner courtyard, which also doubles as a boutique.
On this day in March 2024, customers came to try on the Fall-Winter 2024-2025 dresses and coats, coloring the racks with their eggplant, royal blue or electric pink intensity. The presence of these shoppers didn't prevent the Lebanese-born 50-something from answering our questions or demonstrating the practicality of his creations: "It's silk taffeta, ultralight, wrinkle-free; it folds like a waterproof coat," he explained, unhooking an orange evening dress from its hanger and rolling it into a ball. Since his debut in 1999, Kayrouz has made his mark with a streamlined aesthetic using practical, light, geometric shapes that seem to ignore gravity.
2024 marks the 25th anniversary of his house and his return to business. Wounded in the head by the explosion in the port of Beirut in the summer of 2020, the designer spent a long time convalescing; his destroyed atelier was rebuilt in another building in the Lebanese capital, which he inaugurated in March. "It was the first event we'd organized there in five years, and I found it moving," said Kayrouz, who remains his brand's majority shareholder but brought in financial partners in 2016 and 2017 to support its development at his own pace. After opening a boutique in London in 2020, he is planning a new venue in Paris.
When I started out in Lebanon, I only made evening gowns and wedding dresses. Although they were pure, they lacked urban inspiration. When I moved to Paris in 2009, I was obsessed with the idea of making clothes for the city, for the street. I came up with the split trench [now a brand classic] because I saw a woman wrestling with her coat as she ran to catch the bus. However, when I'm only in Paris, I miss Lebanon: the light, the proximity to nature... I've always been lucky enough to live between two countries, which is reflected in my clothes: The shapes are Parisian, their colors Mediterranean.
In the early days, I used complicated constructions inside the garment. The beauty of this profession is that a new collection every six months allows you to rectify things. Over time, I've improved my cut and choice of fabrics. I've learned to put a piece together without crutches, seams or unnecessary yokes. I've always been passionate about structure. It's all very well if the garment is pretty, but it must first be functional.
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