Meet Zuhair Murad, the Self-taught Lebanese Couturier Who Counts Jennifer Lopez As His Friend & #1 Client

What do J.Lo, Katy Perry, and Beyoncé have in common (other than ruling the universe)? Answer: They have all this year sported gowns by Zuhair Murad. Zuhair who? You may say — but not for much longer. This Beirut-based couturier’s red carpet star is rising.

Murad’s red carpet break came when J.Lo called in a gown to wear to the Met Gala in 2010. Since then, the relatively unknown designer — who presented his first couture show in Beirut in 1999, two years later moving his shows to Paris where he opened a sprawling couture atelier-cum-boutique-cum-showroom in 2007 — hasn’t looked back. There is something about Murad’s sexy-glam creations — from Scarlett Johansson’s hot pink long-sleeved jumpsuit at the MTV Movie Awards in April to the sheer-paneled, black-beaded tuxedo-wrap evening gown worn by Lily Collins to the Vanity Fair Oscar party – that is proving to be celebrity catnip.

In the countdown to the couturier's latest Haute Couture show, held on Thursday in Paris's Palais de Tokyo contemporary art museum, we headed to his Rue François HQ in Paris’s Golden Triangle to discover more about his world — or make that galaxy, judging by the star-spangled creations that awaited us.

Navigating the building’s labyrinthine corridors, we found the bearded 40-something couturier making the final adjustments on a beige bridal gown the size of a small car, its cathedral train splaying across half of the room. Crouched at hem level and clad in ripped Balmain jeans, a black and white Neil Barrett T-shirt, and studded Saint Laurent sneakers, there wasn’t the slightest hint of frayed nerves or designer attitude as Murad studied the fall of the veil. It was meter upon meter of tulle embroidered with stars in different dimensions and volumes, soon he was up and using his iPhone to snap the dress from various angles.

In a neighboring room, golden racks heaved with twinkling jewel-tone gowns, minis, and slinky jumpsuits — the 48 looks from his Star Catcher collection, a homage both to the "jewels studding the firmament" and 1970s divas of the silver screen — that in sashayed down the runway. His elaborate all-over star embroidery is the result of up to 2,000-hours of handiwork per gown. Strains of an echoey remix of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” fill the air from a soundtrack check underway in a room further down the corridor.

Ground control to Major Murad.

The Galaxy, the softly-spoken couturier explains, entering the room minutes later, is a theme close to his heart, rounding back to his first ever couture show. In his hometown of Baalbek, in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, he likes to watch the stars through a telescope from his garden, which sits on a mountain. “I love the mysterious world, space, all things astral and astrological,” says Murad, who’s a Cancer. Keen to find out more about his starry-starry life story, we persuaded the Little Prince Lebanese couturier to lay down his scissors to talk about how he got to where he is today and his experience dressing Hollywood's celestial A-list.

YAHOO STYLE: What is couture for you?

ZUHAIR MURAD: For me it’s art; I’m like a sculptor when I work, I’m working millimeter by millimeter.

YS: Tell us about your childhood.

ZM: I was born in Lebanon in Baalbek, a town famous for its Roman columns. It used to be called [Heliopolis, Greek for] the City of the Sun, and is known for its incredible nature, the starry skies in the mountains. I started designing at the age of three or four. My mother says I always had paper and crayons with me and would cut fabrics to use for curtains or whatever. My mother had a Singer sewing magazine so I started making things and mixing fabrics. I don’t know where it comes from, maybe I was inspired by Greek women from the ancient ruins of my town, or the idea of mythological women…

YS: When did you know you wanted to become a designer?

ZM: By the age of around 10 I knew that was what I wanted to do, I was obsessed with all the big couturiers like Christian Dior, Cristobal Balenciaga, Hubert de Givenchy. There wasn’t Internet at the time, but I spent all my time looking at magazines and books.

YS: Is there a couture tradition in Lebanon?

ZM: Yes, there’s a big couture tradition, but these are couturiers who make bespoke pieces for clients and princesses from the Arab world, not designers who create collections. At 14 or 15 I started selling sketches to these couturiers, and it started like that.

YS: Today more and more Lebanese designers are gaining attention, such as Elie Saab and Rabih Kayrouz. Do you support each other, or are the swords out?

ZM: No, it’s not at all like that, we’re all very proud, each has his own universe, level of success and clients.

YS: Did you study fashion?

ZM: No, but I spent a long time studying it through books. I’m self-taught. Fashion is education but it’s also a question of talent and experience.

YS: So you started out in Lebanon?

ZM: I started with an atelier in Lebanon from zero and things took off pretty quickly as the press and clients loved what I was doing.

YS: When did you decide to move to Paris?

ZM: When I felt that Lebanon and the Middle East had become too small for me. I was around 26, it was pretty scary, but I’m quite confident about my talent and am someone who perseveres; it’s my world. It’s been extremely tough, it didn’t happen in a day. I’m still young, but I work hard day and night, I have a vision.

YS: What was your first break?

ZM: It’s been more like a series of stages than one specific moment.

YS: Who is the first big star you dressed?

ZM: J.Lo. It was magic, a dream. She chose my dress for the Met Gala. Since then we’ve met each other several times. She’s wonderful, incredible.

YS: Have you experienced any stars behaving like prima donnas?

ZM: For me, the relationship between a designer and a star is very intimate. If the feeling is there, it flows. If ever it didn’t feel right, I wouldn’t be able to work with them.

YS: You seem very calm, considering you’re so close to your show. Do you ever lose it?

ZM: I have to stay calm, as I don’t like my mood to influence the atelier. I’m someone who tends to interiorize stress. Over the past three weeks there have been so many fires to put out — I have a team of around 150 people between France and Lebanon – but it always comes together, it’s about finding solutions.

YS: How does the red carpet influence your designs?

ZM: I never design a dress thinking, oh that one's for the red carpet, or a certain client. I do what I want and at the end the client, celebrity, or press picks what they like. But it’s exciting to see my creations on the red carpet, it’s like a huge window. I’d say it’s more important than the catwalk — millions of eyes are watching what the stars are going to wear, the colors, the cuts…

YS: Who are your clients?

ZM: Women who like to be unique, feel beautiful, sensual, different, and to feel confident.

YS: Around how many hours are spent on each look?

ZM: It’s 1,500-2,000 hours of embroidery. Sometimes we have 20 people working on one piece, such as the bridal gown.

YS: Does your family come to your shows?

ZM: Sometimes. A lot of them work actually for my company — my brother, sister, my nieces, in administration or in the workshop.

YS: What’s your personal style like?

ZM: I always wear black. My uniform was jeans and blazer in the early days and now it’s more a suit and T-shirt. I love Hedi Slimane for Saint Laurent, and designers with a style that’s a bit different, like Neil Barrett and Ann Demeulemeester as it’s black, but there’s something poetic. I like be relaxed with a touch of rock-n’-roll.

YS: You’re becoming more and more well known in the U.S., how does that feel?

ZM: It feels like a prize for my hard work. I’d like to open stores there, starting with New York, followed by Miami and Los Angeles. It’s not for right away, but it’s in the works. Harrod’s in London has just invited me to open a shop-in-shop there in December as they have so much demand.

YS: How does it feel, with everything you’ve achieved, to be here in Paris - the capital of fashion and couture, based in the Golden Triangle - when you think back to yourself as a boy?

ZM: I’m still a little boy, I still have the same dreams. I don’t have this feeling of, Wow I’m so successful, I’ve made it. There’s still so much to do.

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