Inside Zuhair Murad’s Paris headquarters on Rue François 1er, the atmosphere is part atelier, part theatre. A model steps into a sea-green gown that pools like liquid silk around her feet. “This model needs to wear two dresses,” Murad says decisively, studying the fall of the fabric. “Yes, I love this one for her.” He gestures towards her in the long, sculpted sheath. “Beautiful!” he exclaims. “Beau-ti-ful!” The room is a choreography of concentration. Murad adjusts a strap, steps back and studies the silhouette. The energy is focused and forward-moving. No chaos. No hesitation.
It is days before the haute couture show, and some 15 people move in focused coordination. Women stand before a casting board, scrutinising polaroids and look numbers. Meanwhile, models move in and out to either be cast in the show or to have their gowns personally adjusted by the couturier himself. Murad kneels to pin a skirt, adjusting a fold by millimetres. “Are you comfortable with the dress?” he asks the model. The question is both practical and philosophical. Couture is Murad’s love language – one that he desires to be shared.
In November last year, Murad received the Trailblazer Award at the Fashion Trust Arabia (FTA) Prize ceremony in Doha. While presenting the award, FTA cofounder and cochair Tania Fares reminded the audience that he had designed the reusable tote bags for Qatar Duty Free in support of FTA, and that by donating his design, he helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for young Arab designers. “He has rebuilt, reinvented and risen again and again, showing the world what Lebanese talent is capable of,” she said. “Fashion is power,” Murad acknowledged in his acceptance speech. “It shapes culture, inspiration and opens doors to new possibilities.” With great power comes even greater responsibility. Fashion, of course, never sleeps.
“I never take a vacation. Never,” he says a day after the couture show over dinner at Le Royal Monceau - Raffles Paris, with only three weeks left for the prêt-à-porter collections. “Before, we designers used to do two collections a year. Now it’s couture, ready-to-wear, resort… sometimes we work on three collections at the same time.” He exhales. “We are living in a world that is fast, fast, fast. But in the end, couture is art – and at the same time, a
business. Clients travel. They see new pieces every month from other brands. If they come to us and find the same dresses, they won’t come back. We don’t have a choice.”
It is a tension that defines contemporary fashion. Murad references Azzedine Alaïa, whom he admired for resisting the official calendar. “He was like a painter. When he was ready, he showed. That is art. Today, you must follow the rhythm. You must deliver. Everything is accelerating,” he explains. And sometimes, everything stops. The Lebanese designer endured a devastating loss when the 2020 Beirut explosion destroyed his headquarters, along with years of meticulous craftsmanship. “It was very, very hard,” he reflects quietly. “We lost most of the archives.” What sustained him was community. “My family, friends, the people who work with me… and even celebrities from all over the world sent messages. They supported us. It gave me strength.” He recalls his mother’s words when he returned home that night, shaken. “She said, ‘Stop crying. Thank God you are alive.’ At that moment, I forgot everything.” It is all the more understandable that Fares referred to Murad as “a symbol of strength and creativity”. The blast reshaped Murad’s perspective. “I learnt that life is short. Why create problems? Why suffer for nothing?” He pauses. “I am less of a perfectionist now. When you are suffering, the people around you do too.”
Yet perfection remains embedded in his DNA. It is visible in the corsetry of his gowns, in the precision of a hand-embroidered bodice. His latest couture collection is a testament to resilience. “It is a message,” he explains. “There is light after darkness.” Inspired by the Renaissance – by the frescoes of Florence and the rebirth of art after turmoil – the collection glows with optimism. “You don’t see dark colours. No black. It is about life, about revival, about celebrating the beauty of women,” Murad says. The silhouettes exalt femininity – structured through the hips, sculpted along the curve. “It is the famous silhouette,” he smiles. “The curve of the woman. Clients from all over the world want to feel beautiful. Some want to show more. Some are romantic. Some are strong. But they all want to celebrate their beauty.” Gold embroidery traces bodices like fresco fragments. Pastel pinks, celadon greens and sunlit ivories recall palace walls. “I was inspired by the world of Renaissance palaces – the gold, the art. I wanted something positive, something moving.”
The couturier speaks often of emotion. “With every collection, I want to send a message and not just beautiful clothes. There must be meaning.” After decades in fashion, the meaning traces back to his childhood. The youngest of four siblings, Murad was a shy boy who loved to draw. “I don’t remember exactly when it started,” he reflects. “I asked my mother once. She told me that when I was two or three, I stayed home and drew all day.” His mother sewed at home, bought fabrics and kept a small machine. “Sometimes when she was out, I opened the closet and touched the fabrics. I cut small pieces and made things without telling her.” He laughs at the memory. “When she went to a tailor one day, I insisted on accompanying her. I sat there while she took measurements. And something clicked.” At school, teachers pinned his drawings to the board. “They said, ‘Oh my God, this is good.’ They encouraged me.” At the time in Lebanon, fashion design was not widely understood as a glamorous profession. “People thought it was tailoring – copying from Chanel or Dior. They asked, ‘Why do you want this?’ But I saw my future differently. I followed my instinct.”
He considers himself fortunate. “There are many talented people who never succeed. In the beginning, I suffered a lot. Nothing came easy. But everything that comes easy, goes easily too.” His team, some of whom have worked alongside him for nearly two decades, are integral to that endurance. “When someone leaves, I feel very sad. It is like a relationship. We spend more time together than with our families.”
Murad describes the atelier as structured, almost like a military in its organisation. “I like order,” he reveals. This discipline aligns him with the likes of late Giorgio Armani rather than with Valentino Garavani. “Valentino enjoyed his private life. Armani worked from six in the morning until the end of the day. My work ethic is more like Armani,” he continues. “Maybe one day I will regret not giving more to my personal life. But you cannot succeed in many fields at the same time. If I do something, I want to do it 100 per cent.”
He acknowledges that the industry’s relentless pace leaves little room for hobbies. “In fashion nowadays, you don’t have time. You give 24 hours to it.” He still finds joy in the moment the curtains rise and the collection steps into the light. “When I see people – celebrities, friends – happy with the collection and when I feel the love, I forget all the hard work.”
Photography: The Bardos
Styling: Sergi Padial
Hair: Asma Nafati
Make-up: Hila Armand.
Photography Assistant: Loc Boyle
Styling Assistant: Olivia Dubin
Model: Eva Pujatti
This article was originally published in the March 2026 issue of Vogue Arabia.
.jpg)
.jpg)