Zuhair Murad’s Girls Of The Golden Age

Zuhair Murad’s Fall/Winter 2025 couture collection doesn’t just pay homage to Old Hollywood: it unveils it, reframes it, and hands the star a new ending. Shown Yesterday in Paris, the show was a polished fantasy with sharp undertones. Strong silhouettes accompanied by satin and sequins, alluded to the traditional, reclaiming decades of the past, rather than mourning nostalgia.

Murad’s reference points were clear. Barbara Stanwyck, Rita Hayworth, the drama of glamorous golden age screen legends. But where those archetypes were often cast as femme fatales or women undone by desire, Murad's take gives them agency. The gowns are cut for movement, balancing power with softness that doesn't feel naive.

Courtesy of Zuhair Murad: Haute Couture Look 02

A gold satin cape-gown shimmered with micro-beading that caught light like a slow pan across a film set. High shoulders contrasted against low, plunging backs. Draped silk clung and flowed in all the right places, suggesting autonomy as opposed to entrapment.

Courtesy of Vogue Zuhair Murad: Haute Couture Look 17

Sequins were everywhere, but their application was never arbitrary, or excessive. They caught the body’s curves and transformed them into light patterns, not for mere ornamental purposes, but liquid reflections of power. Ruffled tulle appeared at hemlines and sleeves, balanced by razor-cut tailoring.

Courtesy of Vogue Zuhair Murad: Haute Couture Look 33

A black velvet column dress poised with glimmering feathered detailing felt particularly cinematic. Not “red carpet” in the cliché sense, but it was a look that demanded its own moment.

The color palette played with opulence and tradition. Creamy golds, burnt bronze, smoky plums, often interrupted by deep, jewel-toned statement pieces. There was clever play in the styling: structured bodices softened by sheer floaty overlays, capes opening into sweeping silhouettes, and even the occasional pantsuit quietly asserting itself beneath crystal embroidery.

Courtesy of Vogue Zuhair Murad: Haute Couture Finale

Murad himself framed the show as a tribute to transformation: a heroine "offered an escape toward a reinvented ending, one of choice, flight, and triumph.” The show was lush, yes, but grounded itself in control. It came off as less of a fairytale, and more like a re-edition. This wasn’t a reinvention of Murad’s aesthetic, known for embellishment, drama, and his hallmark maximalism. But there was a shift in energy. Less softness, more stance. Less princess, more presence.

These were gowns built for impact, but also for movement: for women who don’t just wear the dress, but direct the scene. If this is Hollywood glamour reimagined, it’s a version where the woman gets to write the final scene. And look damn good doing it.

Zuhair Murad’s Girls Of The Golden Age