For nearly twenty years, Zuhair Murad s signature has been the kind of lavishly sequined, "tattoo beaded" high evening dresses that make big waves in places like Cannes. This year, the 40-year-old designer scored photo ops on three major French starlets, and Petra Nemcova donned an elaborate gown that, by the designer s own reckoning, probably added more than 20 pounds to her frame. Not that his girls complain: Women who live that level of glamour are keen enough to step out in Murad s creations. They likely don t even notice.
Given that he s got nighttime wrapped, Murad has been exploring daywear of late, with more prints, more color, and more casual options like T-shirts and trousers. Nearly half the looks in the collection were for day (or day-to-night). The challenge Murad gave himself, he said, was tackling "safari chic" in a new way. "When you say safari, it s not ordinarily a very sexy, glamorous theme," he explained. Rather than go literal with the usual big-game prints, he incorporated his signature transparency—chiffon, mesh, lace—onto khaki ramier shirtdresses with a touch of military about them. Colonial inspirations followed, with African motifs extrapolated into graphic zigzag triangles stitched onto numbers that, while beaded, nonetheless managed to appear pared-back. It wasn t Out of Africa, but any safari offers up a pulse-racing moment or two, and on that count Murad delivered.
