You'd expect a primarily womenswear designer to go either bonkers or completely safe with menswear. Elie Saab does neither. There’s glamour here, certainly, but nothing desperate to prove it. His H&M collaboration seems to have booked us a table somewhere expensive, accepted a black-tie invitation, and decided our social lives could use a little more ambition.

The tailoring backs this up. A double-breasted black wool blazer with satin lapels. Tuxedo trousers with a double satin stripe. A tuxedo shirt with embroidered logos on the bib, the kind of detail built for the second look, not the first. The pyjama-style shirts and trousers are silkier, more relaxed, but they still know exactly where they're going. Even the monogram-embellished T-shirt refuses to switch off fully. Nothing here is neutral.

H&M didn't stumble into this. Elie Saab, says the brand's Ann-Sofie, is "a designer we have always respected," a journey from master of bridal in Beirut to Paris Fashion Week, "an amazing, rich story." It had, she admits, been a while since a collaboration got this serious about gowns and tailoring.

Saab doesn't have a menswear line. Hasn't, despite years of couture looks for men. So this collection reads less like a diffusion range and more like a first draft of what his full menswear world might look like. Look closely: an enamelled monogram on a cufflink, a jacquard silk tie, a belt that flips from brown leather to black croc-look. None of it shouts. It doesn't need to.

Saab isn't interested in the idea that men just discovered style. He talks about generations instead, borrowing, reinterpreting, each finding its own way into familiar clothes. No grand declaration of the "new man" here, just cycles repeating with slight variation. In conversation with Man's World, Saab gets into that wardrobe, what it means to translate his house's craftsmanship for H&M, and a relationship with India that runs deeper than this one collection.

Did designing for millions of people make you more experimental, or more disciplined?

I wanted this to feel like a complete wardrobe, pieces that move from day to night without losing the Elie Saab identity, or the glamour the house is known for.

How has the way men dress changed in the last few years?

I've had the privilege of dressing generations, grandparents, their children, their children's children. There's something meaningful in watching a piece get passed down, reinterpreted along the way. So I don't think of menswear in terms of change, but more in cycles, a constant flow of inspiration and meaning. Men have always taken care with how they look, but today each man translates that in his own way, drawing from the past and giving it a personal read. This collection works from that same instinct, reworking the codes of traditional menswear through a contemporary lens, so familiar references come back elaborated, reformulated, richer in character and detail.

You describe the menswear as being in dialogue with the womenswear. What can menswear borrow from womenswear without losing its own character?

The collection is open by design. It's a full wardrobe, and anyone can pick whatever piece makes them feel empowered, elegant, beautiful. Style is personal, for men and women both; it comes down to how someone chooses to dress, groom, present themselves, and for what occasion. The same piece can take on a completely different character depending on who's wearing it.

What do you want Elie Saab menswear to stand for?

The Elie Saab man: elegant, confident, modern.

India has always had a strong culture of dressing up. Considering your body of work, do you see a natural connection between Indian fashion and Elie Saab?

Absolutely. Our relationship with India goes back a long way. Many of our couture clients are Indian, and they share that appreciation for beautifully embellished pieces, for dressing to mark important moments. We even built a collection inspired by India years ago, so this isn't new territory. Opening the Delhi store recently was about deepening that relationship with our Indian clients and their culture of celebration.

We're seeing more major European fashion houses draw inspiration from India, from its textiles and craftsmanship to its colours and silhouettes. What do you make of this growing Indian influence on global fashion?

It's always beautiful to see fashion built with real craft, detail, and heritage in mind. I've long been drawn to India: the vibrancy, the embroidery, the colour, that sense of beauty and joy. Being there is always inspiring.

Elie Saab and H&M represent very different sides of fashion. What is the one thing you feel the two brands have in common that made this collaboration work?

A profound commitment to, and respect for, the customer. It was a beautiful exchange, and I'm genuinely pleased with what we built together with H&M. There was real synergy in how we both think, client-first, always thinking about the people who wear our pieces: their desires, their dreams, how they evolve.

Your label is known for couture and craftsmanship. What was the biggest challenge in translating that world into H&M?

I was involved in every step, immersed in the details, with the same care I'd give my own collection. The challenge was making sure every element felt considered, from construction to the finishing touches, and I'm genuinely pleased with the result. The H&M team were fixated on quality, detail, and good product, which made a real difference. The collection stays true to the Elie Saab world: that balance of structure and fluidity, a sense of lightness, the richness of embellishment.

For someone buying Elie Saab for the first time through H&M, which menswear piece would you tell them to start with?

I can't pick favourites; I'm pleased with the whole menswear line. The leather pieces are beautiful, the tailoring sharp and timeless. Having menswear in the collection at all is an exciting step for us; we've made couture looks for men for years, and there's the fragrance, but no dedicated menswear line yet. So for this collection, we wanted a selection that gives a more complete expression of the Elie Saab world.