When earlier this year dashing heir to the Jordanian throne, Crown Prince Hussein, the son of King Abdullah II and Queen Rania, wed Saudi aristocrat and architect Rajwa Al Saif at Amman’s Zahran Palace, the Middle East was buzzing.
Meanwhile, back home, fashion eyes were focused on one thing: the custom-made Elie Saab gown worn by the bride. Like any bespoke Elie Saab creation, Rajwa’s wedding dress, which had an asymmetrical neckline and a floral-embellished train, was elaborate. It took 20 people a total of three months to complete and featured 550 petals and six kilograms of pearls, crystals and beads.
Also making the headlines that day was the Princess of Wales, who attended the wedding alongside her husband, the Prince of Wales, wearing a beautiful Grecian-style dusty pink gown with delicate floral embroidery. The reaction was unanimous, no designer was more befitting for the task of dressing these two women than perfectionist Elie Saab, Lebanon’s greatest fashion export.
A couple of months earlier, we
