This Lebanese-born couture designer was raised in a household by his father, who was also a designer in the world of high fashion. Fully engrossed in the world of design since he was born, Jean Louis Sabaji has been adapting, learning and developing his principles of design and beauty since a very early age. After graduating from Lebanese American University he spent some time in Italy with designers at the Milan Domus Academy, before taking over his father’s work and moving forward with their brand. He describes himself, not as a designer, but as a builder of concept, character and movement. This means that his designs transfer into high volume, lavish gowns with an abundance of colour and extravagance. In his Fall 2015 collection particularly, his dresses and gowns are intense and striking, unapologetic in their beauty and strong in their structure.
If there’s one thing Jean Louis Sabaji has made evident, it’s that he is a master at creating haute couture gowns. These lavish, decadent and hugely show-stopping wedding gowns are fit for the most fearsome of brides. While the majority of his collection coming in the form of bold, striking, vibrant colours, he also graced us with his more virtuous, pristine, white creations. Some were distinctly new age while others were made of much grander, timeless fabrics. Each style was uniquely individual, and each one wowed us. Unlike most of the bridal collections we love to feast our eyes on, which usually have a distinctive recurring theme or style, Jean Louis Sabaji has made each of his gowns an individual masterpiece by its own right. If there was one theme we had to pinpoint among each of these stunning dresses, it would be grandeur.
However, a quite common fabric used by this designer, which we saw cropping up more than once were tulle, crepe-like feathers, used as both an entire encasing fabric for a gown and also accompaniments on sheer, incandescent dresses. One particular favourite here was the swinging gown with snow white tulle feathers and a sheer, transparent fabric. The light feathers that draped along the shoulder and across the trail of the skirt gave the gown a simultaneous feel of romance and freedom while using lavish and eccentric silhouettes.
Another complete turnaround from the lightweight, decadent whimsy of the feathers was the incorporation of netting, spike-like clusters and new age vertical lines. All these materials and more added to his sense of splendour and modern vibrancy. His netted dress had an accompanying skirt with spike-like bunches ranging all over, down as far as the knee. This gown was short, had contrasting fabrics and was full of attitude. Another dress of his that was similar to this new-age theme was his slim silhouette gown that was fitted with capped sleeves, and featured a spiralling of rings running down the entire gown. This dress had a very futuristic air, full of splendour and innovation.
However, it would be humanly impossible to ignore the remainder of the collection by Jean Louis Sabaji, which were his mesmerizing gowns in bright colours. These particular coloured dresses would fit perfectly for a bride who had her heart set on standing out from crowd and breaking her own sense of tradition. Our particular favourites of his were the blood red gowns, which had the same dazzling effect of red tulle feathers as his previous white gowns trailing along the skirts edge. Others were his deep cobalt blue and black dresses, one of which featured a remarkable feat of both engineer and design by having the end of the blue skirt erupt in black feathers and tassels that draped up the gown.
The entire collection had a huge display of almost 3-D effects and outlandish, grand silhouettes – to say the least. When it comes to wearing a Jean Louis Sabaji gown on your wedding day, you can rest assured it will be with confidence and attitude. These haute couture wedding dresses full of splendour and luxury will command the entire room, and have you feeling like a masterpiece in yourself.
- Roisin Curran
Image credits: Jean Louis Sabaji