Zuhair Murad’s heroines were heading for adventure on the high seas. With his pirate-themed collection, the designer took his clients on a treasure hunt inspired by tales of pirates and mariners.
“People need to dream, especially at the moment, with these really stressful times,” said Murad backstage before his show. “Pirates stand for freedom, confidence and bravery.”
Several designs dripped with cascades of colorful jewels, as if crammed into a treasure chest. A sharp-shouldered jacket thus adorned nodded to officers’ uniforms, shouting out that it’s the women who captain this ship.
On voluminous skirts and gowns in dusty shades of tulle, his embroidered ships crested the glittering waves, their rigging, made from strands of crystals, swinging as the models walked. On theme, a print version had the moody turbulence of a J.M.W. Turner painting.
Elsewhere, the course of his designs was charted by lavishly embroidered maps, their embroideries suggestive of the constellations used in times past to navigate the oceans, their silvery sequins tarnished from decades under the sea.
Simpler, fluid gowns in draped chiffon or pleated lamé evoked the ship’s figurehead — in the era they evoked, she would have been the only female on board — in moody pastel shades, some punctuated with rope details and mariner’s knots.
Tricorne straw hats, headscarves and natural leather accessories all accentuated the concept, while balloon sleeves and sweetheart necklines, when worked on embellished crop tops, would sit just as well above a pair of jeans for today’s fearless adventuress.