Maison Rabih Kayrouz and the San Francisco Ballet perform a pas de deux to support the company and its initiatives.
*Editor's note: recently postponed
A gown from Maison Rabih Kayrouz’s 2020 bridal collection reflects the designer’s focus on movement.
The body in motion inspires Rabih Kayrouz’s designs. So when the San Francisco Ballet Auxiliary asked Paris-based Maison Rabih Kayrouz—one of just 16 members of the prestigious Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture—to participate in its 41st fashion show fundraiser, its Lebanese-born founder leaped at the chance. “I love ballet, I love dance,” says Kayrouz, a frequent collaborator with Paris Opera Ballet. “[Who] better than dancers… to show movement?”
The March 18 event at Saint Joseph’s Arts Society, a South of Market events space, includes a luncheon and presentation of Maison Rabih Kayrouz’s fall 2020 couture and ready-to-wear collections, as well as several retrospective pieces. Proceeds from the luncheon show (as well as a private reception and dinner with Kayrouz the preceding evening) fund new works, scholarships, outreach programs and more. The show also marks Kayrouz’s San Francisco debut. “It’s an honor to welcome someone so relevant, talented and internationally respected to the city for the first time,” says Rhonda Mahendroo, this year’s fashion show chair.
What does Kayrouz have in store? “I worked with red, black, white, pink and flashy blue,” he says of the ready-to-wear collection set to hit the runway. “I like really bold and simple colors, quite daring, and quite straight to the point.” Couture pieces, meanwhile, comprise delicately stitched ribbons and wrappings. Meticulous construction trumps extraneous details. “The cut, the volume, the movement are so important. It’s more like an architecture than a decor,” he says. Guests can shop the looks on-site after the show or the next day at Burlingame’s Sam Malouf Authentic Luxury (the event’s presenting partner).
Kayrouz says his customers (who include Céline Dion and Jada Pinkett Smith), like his designs, tend to be daring and confident, but with a delicate side. “I always say that women are so strong, they can even show their vulnerability with strength,” he adds. Like a ballet dancer? “Exactly!” the designer exclaims. And, perhaps, like the San Francisco woman too.
11am, tickets and packages $500-$25,000, 1401 Howard St., sfballet.org
Looks from the bridal collection, such as these, will be among those presented at the trunk show March 18 and 19.
Photography by: Courtesy of Maison Rabih Kayrouz
