For the time being, the haute couture monopolizes the major part of her activity. Her clients are mainly from the Gulf region, as it is the case for many Lebanese fashion designers. Whereas most designers often create dresses loaded with diamonds, gold and silver threads, she rather likes ethnic lines. Is it a recollection of her native Africa? It could be. « I like African trends, she says. I like their substances and materials: wood, snake and crocodile leathers, warm or sand colors… » African trends and materials are lovely, but for Ella Paris is the central place of fashion. She goes there three or four times a year. « This city is a source of inspiration by itself! Walking in the streets and looking around is enough for you to discover a new trend. Besides, even if everything can be found in Lebanon after all, in Paris, you have everything at hand: sequins, new textiles, and all kinds of accessories… shoulder pads for instance. Here, they have something special ». We will not know what it really is. It might be top secret since this accessory could be used in her new collection. By the way, when will Ella Zahlan launch her new collection? « I work in freelance, so I am not bound to any schedule ». Let it be.

Anyway, her last collection, Ella in Wonderland, shows a sensual and feline woman, almost animal sometimes. She is very proud of the forty designs it encompasses. « I started working on this collection in Beirut. Then I moved to Paris because of the war. I think it is the best collection I have ever designed. I feel that all my femininity shows here in an almost aggressive way. In fact, I way really mad at all men who fight and decide everything!” Is Ella feminist? Not really. Yet she slipped into the conversation that being a woman in the manly world of Haute couture designers is a challenge. « I think women have to fight twice harder in life than men, in order to reconcile between family and career. It is even harder in this business that absorbs all your time: You have to always be waiting for a detail or a trend that could show up anywhere and that you could integrate in your designs ». Those who long to know how Ella conciliates family and career won’t be satisfied. Though discreet, she says that even she takes her time to think about the challenges of her professional career, she tends to take rush decisions concerning her personal life « not always the good ones of course ». As long as the trends she chooses for her designs keep captivating us, we can say that everything else is not our concern.