Along with Elie Saab, Zuhair Murad is the Mid-Eastern designer favored by many famous stars. From a Mid-eastern boy to ‘the King of Italian Catwalk’

Zuhair Murad is Elie Saab’s fellow countryman from Beirut, Lebanon.

The designer was born in 1971 in a Catholic family. The design master shared that he likes drawing costumes since childhood. The dream of working in the world of luxurious gowns was soon cherished in the Lebanese boy.

The designer shared:”Lebanese people, childhood memories, aesthetics, tradition and other elements influenced my imagination. The nature, landscape and colors of this country created an amazing image in my mind over time which becomes my big inspiration. Lively nature in the city makes the most outstanding and incredible sceneries that I’ve ever seen. The combination of European features and Mid-eastern cultural heritage bring a unique lifestyle. The utmost importance is Lebanese style. Everyone is really fashionable; women are beautiful and stylish. Therefore, it is not surprising to see that my collections in every season show the feminine beauty”

The designer  Zuhair Murad.

Soon after his high school graduation, Zuhair went to the promising land Paris to learn about fashion, but Italy has a stronger attachment to the designer. The Mid-eastern boy appeared on the catwalk for his very first time in Rome in 1999 with the collection that surprised the fashion world and received a warm welcome. This success brought Zuhair to the Italian calendar. The 7x designer is also called by his colleagues in the fashion industry “the king of Italian catwalk”. With the sophisticated insight and innate talent in fashion, Zuhair Murad wins the heart of the toughest people, becoming one of the most favorite designers of Mid-eastern royals and world-famous stars.

With the romantic designing style, bringing fairy but modern and impressive breath in combination with high-quality material and sophisticating decoration, Zuhair created many high fashion gowns in the fashion seasons that received huge admiration from experts and fashion lovers.

The designer shared, his creative inspiration comes from everything: “Everything around can inspire him, the history of the country I visited, travel, movie, nature or women are already an inspiration”.

To Zuhair’s view, a trend can last in many years. For example, in Haute Couture, lace costume with pattern-printed cloth, using satin, silk, ribbon and muslin, etc. are always employed, adding femininity to women. The designer always thinks highly of Couture design: “In my opinion, Haute Couture is the convergence of all the ‘magic of art’.

Some gowns designed by Zuhair Murad.

The designer revealed:”The process of making a gown is extremely interesting to me. This is the moment that I allow myself to imagine. I can create the costumes that show my designer side and artist side. A gown is made in many days with my designing crew. We share different inspiration sources, discussing the details, cloth samples, decoration and color palette. This is the moment that we have to think. And fashion is among a handful of fields that have no rules”.

The passion for designing seems never ends. In an interview, he affirmed that he will never change his job.  In each collection, he is thrilled each time seeing a finished product: “When the models walk on the stage, I feel satisfied; that’s when all the pressure has gone”.

The King of red carpet gowns and wedding dresses

Zuhair Murad wants to move towards “luxurious and super feminine” style which is fashionable on the carpet all the time. Particularly, there are always a hug number of elaborate and sophisticating gowns. The grace from his designs wins the heart of many world-famous beauties. Taylor Swift, Marion Cotillard, Jennifer Lopez, Katy Perry, Shakira...are his familiar customers.

The gowns designed by the Lebanese designer have many times helped the beauties gain strong impression in the big events such as Miley Cyrus’s costume on Oscar’s Carpet, Miranda Kerr, Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Lopez in Golden Globe Awards, Miss France Chloe Mortaud in Miss Universe competition…

Being the leading fashion designer on the carpet, win over fashion experts, celebrities and fashion lovers but Zuhair Murad still has many dreams ahead. He wants to host the events that express his own style, not only within Hollywood but many other music and movie projects.

aylor Swift and Jennifer Lopez in Zuhair Murad’s design

Besides evening gowns and daily wear, Zuhair Murad is also a renowned wedding dress designer. The wedding gowns made by the Lebanese designer are always luxurious and elegant which is the dream in life of any girl. Zuhair shared:”There is always a huge honor in wedding dress collection. In my belief, the wedding day is the most important day of any women. The wedding dress is so sacred to a bride. It has to be a magnificent masterpiece to be be remembered forever. Therefore, I always try to bear this in mind when designing the wedding collections”.

He said:”My costume is always a visible reflection of romanticism, elegance in modern process. In each wedding gown, I write a fairy tale of my own, creating romantic but uncanny effect by floating design and modern material: Charming with lace, beautiful and sophisticating when using tulle and muslin or light by employing floral drapery, sparkling when studded with pearls or sequin.

The Lebanese designer opened a fashion store in his hometown in 1995. Besides this boutique, he has a store in Paris and a showroom in Milan. He creates Couture, Ready-to-wear, accessories and glasses. Currently the designer has the ambition to expand his influence to beauty products, perfume, underwear, swimming suit as well as house décor.

Many years in the fashion industry, Zuhair has learnt many things: “When I started building my own business, each design or show has certain value to me in my way of thinking, my perception. You have to put all the inspiration and feeling there. Each season I am always the person who starts making a gown that influences the whole collection but of course I do not do them all. I have a crew that I’m always thankful for.

The answer to the question who is the perfect ambassador for Zuhair Murad, he said: “All the women in the world are my ambassador. Each girl is special in her own way with her own charm and femininity”