Rouba Saadeh is a Lebanese fashion professional whose background includes graphic design, fashion training and work with Elie Saab. She is also the former wife of Italian actor and singer Michele Morrone, with whom she has two sons. Their marriage began before Morrone became internationally known for the 2020 film 365 Days. Saadeh’s own career has followed a different path, taking her through design studies, a business venture and roles in luxury fashion. Her biography brings together two distinct chapters: professional work connected to Beirut’s fashion industry and a family life that spans Lebanon and Italy.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Lebanese |
| Professional fields | Fashion and graphic design |
| Fashion house connection | Elie Saab |
| Fashion school | Istituto Marangoni |
| Former husband | Michele Morrone |
| Marriage | 2014–2018 |
| Children | Two sons, Marcus and Brando |
Education Across Design, Business and Fashion
Saadeh’s educational background includes studies at Lebanese American University and fashion training at Istituto Marangoni. Her professional education record lists a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Business Administration from LAU, followed by an intensive postgraduate course at Marangoni. Her own professional profile dates the Marangoni studies to 2012.
These subjects cover different parts of a creative business. Design concerns how ideas are developed and presented; business studies address how an organization operates. Fashion training adds the discipline of working with clothing, where a visual concept must also account for fabric, construction and fit.
Her professional profile also lists Arabic, English, French and Italian among her languages. That multilingual background fits the international setting of her education and work, which connects Lebanon with a fashion school in Italy and a brand operating across several markets.
Starting in Graphic Design
Before her fashion roles, Saadeh worked in graphic and web design. Her career record includes a position at the Lebanese telecommunications company Alfa-MIC1 between 2009 and 2011, alongside freelance graphic-design experience.
Graphic design and clothing design use different tools, but both depend on visual decisions: color, proportion, composition and the relationship between individual elements. This earlier work gives context to her move into fashion without suggesting that the two disciplines are interchangeable.
She also pursued a business venture. Her professional history lists her as founder and chief executive of Le Paradis Des Fous from September 2013 to December 2014. The venture forms part of her early career alongside employment within an established fashion house.
Working With Elie Saab
Saadeh’s connection to Elie Saab includes an early role assisting the head of the design team in 2013. By 2020, a contemporary account of her career identified her as a senior ready-to-wear coordinator at the house in Beirut.
Ready-to-wear refers to clothing produced in standard sizes, rather than garments made individually for a particular client. Within luxury fashion, it remains a design-led category, with seasonal collections developed for sale through boutiques and other retail channels.
This context helps explain the difference between a fashion-house role and running a personal clothing label. A collection emerges from collaboration across a studio and wider business. Saadeh’s work belongs within that team setting, where creative development and coordination both contribute to the finished presentation.
Credits on Two Fashion Films
A particularly concrete part of Saadeh’s career appears in filmmaker Mounia Akl’s project archive. Akl names Saadeh among the Elie Saab team credited on Retour aux Sources and Hymne à la Vie, two fashion films associated with the house’s work in 2020.
Retour aux Sources was shot in Lebanon. Its concept drew on nature, roots and the Lebanese mountains during the quiet of the pandemic. Rather than relying solely on a runway setting, the project placed fashion within a landscape and a cinematic story.
For Hymne à la Vie, Akl described a concept centered on human touch and connection, developed during confinement in Lebanon. The credits bring together filmmakers, musicians, production specialists and members of the fashion-house team.
Saadeh’s inclusion connects her to identifiable projects. The credits name her as part of the Elie Saab team without assigning her a separate directing, cinematography or costume-design credit.
Marriage to Michele Morrone
Rouba Saadeh and Michele Morrone married in 2014. In a 2016 interview, Morrone described her as a Lebanese fashion designer and said they had civil marriage ceremonies in Italy and Lebanon. He characterized the celebration as intimate, with around 20 guests.
At the time of that interview, Morrone had appeared on the Italian television dance competition Ballando con le Stelle. His later international breakthrough came with his portrayal of Massimo Torricelli in 365 Days, released in 2020.
The couple divorced in 2018. Their marriage therefore belonged to an earlier period of his career, ending before the film that introduced him to a much larger international audience.
Their Two Sons
Saadeh and Morrone welcomed their first son, Marcus, in September 2014, and their second, Brando, in September 2017. The boys have lived with their mother in Beirut, while their father’s acting and music work has taken him abroad.
Morrone has spoken about spending time with his sons at the beach, playing together and making music. Both children appeared in his 2020 music video for “Dad,” linking one of his creative projects directly to his experience of fatherhood.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Rouba Saadeh?
Rouba Saadeh is a Lebanese fashion and graphic-design professional associated with Elie Saab. She was previously married to actor and singer Michele Morrone.
Where did Rouba Saadeh study fashion?
Her professional profile lists Istituto Marangoni, with studies dated to 2012. Her educational background also includes Lebanese American University.
Has Rouba Saadeh worked with Elie Saab?
Yes. Her professional history connects her with the fashion house, and she is named in its team credits for two Mounia Akl fashion films.
When were Rouba Saadeh and Michele Morrone married?
They married in 2014 and divorced in 2018, approximately four years later.
How many children does Rouba Saadeh have with Michele Morrone?
They have two sons: Marcus and Brando.
Conclusion
Rouba Saadeh’s biography combines design education, graphic-design experience and collaborative work in fashion. Her marriage to Michele Morrone is one chapter of that story; her professional work and role as a mother provide the broader picture.
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