DUBAI: Chinese singer-songwriter Shan Yichun, known for being the youngest star to win reality TV show “The Voice of China,” wore a gown by Lebanese couturier Georges Hobeika to attend the seventh Tencent Music Entertainment Awards at the Galaxy Arena in Macau.
The rich purple gown, from the label’s Fall 2024 haute couture collection, featured a sleek, floor-skimming silhouette with long, fitted sleeves and a square neckline. The crepe-like construction created an elegant column shape, with a standout detail of a dramatic band of plum-toned feathers wrapped around the waist and hips.
The label unveiled its latest collection at Paris Haute Couture Week in July. Hobeika and his son, Jad, presented a lineup inspired by the James McCrae poem “Instructions Before Visiting Earth,” drawing on its message of embracing life with curiosity, compassion and wonder.
The front row featured an international guest list that included Moroccan-Canadian singer Faouzia, Lebanese content creator Nour Rizk, influencer Becca Bloom, Chinese actress Fan Bingbing and Tunisian presenter Myriem Boukadida.
Crafted between the fashion house’s Beirut and Paris ateliers, the collection highlighted the meticulous craftsmanship for which the label is known. Intricate embroidery, shimmering beadwork and fluid fabrics evoked the movement of water, while lace emerged as the defining material. The color palette ranged from soft blues and muted beige to sage green and dusty rose, with dramatic black ensembles adding depth and contrast.
Founded by Georges Hobeika in 1995, the Beirut-based house has become a fixture on the Paris Haute Couture calendar. Last year, Hobeika celebrated 30 years since launching his namesake brand and marked the occasion with a short documentary on YouTube in which Jad opens up about working alongside his father and continuing the brand’s legacy.
“Working with Georges, there’s definitely, you know, he created fashion like no one else in the Middle East,” Jad said in the video, which was shared on Instagram. “He is someone who is so professional at what he does. He is so strict. He is a perfectionist, in a way or another.
“I’m not. I’m a messy person. I like to try. I like to make things that don’t make sense or like to create something that doesn't really fit within the norm of what you normally do. This is not the real conversation here. The real conversation is keeping up the beauty of everything that was done before and making it better and better and upgrading it every year and every season.”
