'FEARLESS. ENIGMATIC. TIMELESS' ZUHAIR MURAD

The Lebanese couturier is revered for building spectacle from restraint. The swirls of embroidery, Swarovski crystals, and floor-sweeping, tulle-festooned trains might suggest indulgence, but everything is measured. honed, and bent to serve the body. What emerges is a vision of couture that feels both timeless and startlingly alive...

- INTERVIEW: DUHIN GANJU

When we live in times that force us to overanalyse the small movements of people in videos to clock whether something is AI, it's reassuring to see fringe and fabric jounce just as nature intended. Who knew basic reality could hold such appeal? Lebanese couturier Zuhair Murad has built his reputation on exactly that: designs that send the imagination soaring, and clothes that move, shimmer, and transform in ways only a human body can animate. Think: idea after idea, each more tactile and maximalist than the next.

The 53-year-old fashion designer, who launched his namesake label in 1995 and became a regular at Paris Haute Couture Week from 2001, has dressed everyone from Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, and Blake Lively to Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Deepika Padukone — women who, on the world's most-watched red carpets, embody his vision of glamour as both armour and seduction.

In an exclusive conversation with HELLO!, Zuhair strips away the dazzle long enough to explain what fuels it: a belief in femininity without cliché, seduction tempered by restraint, and deft-cutting craftsmanship that still bows to the human hand. He also teases his Spring 2026 ready-to-wear collection — fluid, light, and proof that fantasy need not be artificial.

You’re often praised for the way you understand and celebrate the woman’s body. How do you decode femininity — and balance sensuality with sophistication — when translating it into your designs?