Frocks for red carpet

The gowns reflect the old Hollywood glamour of stars like Audrey Hepburn.
By MONICA BOND
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Attitude with elegance is the trademark of red-carpet gowns designed -- and sold nationwide -- by Warren resident Diaa Mzehem, president and head designer of Diaa Designs Inc.
A modest shop at 837 Elm Road N.E., across from Warren Harding High School, is Mzehem's flagship store, from which he designs gowns sold in almost 50 stores across the United States.
Originally from Lebanon, Mzehem has spent most of his life in Canada and the United States.
"I'm what you call a world citizen," he said. "Borders don't mean anything to me; however, I'm loyal to any country I come to."
Mzehem, who said he has always been an artist and painted before taking up fashion design, attended L'Academie des Couturiers Canadians in Ottawa and graduated cum laude. He has been designing gowns for 17 years and two years ago began designing under his own label.
"I got fed up working for other companies and not getting anywhere," he said.
Mzehem's gowns are worn in pageants across the United States, and he said there is considerable interest in his work in the United Kingdom, France and the Caribbean.
What he envisions
Mzehem's goals are to market his gowns to celebrities in California for the red carpet, and then expand into menswear, perfumes and accessories. "My dream is to be the next Versace," he said. "If you don't have dreams, you have nothing."
Mzehem's wife, Ellie, who grew up in Warren and is a designer, agreed.
"We're definitely living our dream," she said. "We have a lot of people who like our stuff, so we know we're on the right track."
Ellie Mzehem is a makeup artist and helps complete a look with the appropriate accessories. "When a woman wears our dresses, we want her to look her best," Mzehem said.
Each custom-designed gown begins with a consultation, during which Mzehem gets a precise idea of what his customer wants. Then several sketches are drawn, showing the exquisite details; the sketch is improved until it is exact. Every intricate detail of the gown is drawn on the patterns Mzehem sends to one of his overseas factories in China or the Middle East.
It's too expensive to make them in this country, he said.
The patterns show where every tiny bead or rhinestone is to be, and the work is done by hand. The entire process takes about 45 days.
The gown isn't exquisite on the outside only. The inside construction is precise and made for the ultimate comfort of the woman who wears it.
Each gown is a "custom-made, one-of-a-kind, show-stopping piece," and the woman receives a copy of the sketch and a certificate of authenticity. Mzehem said a custom-made gown from Diaa Designs Inc. costs about $1,000 to $3,000.
"All my dresses have something different; you can't just go into a store and find one," he said.
Mzehem's gowns reflect the old Hollywood, the glamour made famous by stars like Audrey Hepburn.
"I call my dresses sexy, but they're not too revealing," he said. "They're elegant, yet sexy."
Ellie Mzehem added that each gown should wrap a sense of mystery around the woman who wears it, a mystery that will grab peoples' attention and gain their respect.
One store at a time
Mzehem said he is building his business one store at a time. All the stores that carry his label will be listed on his Web site, www.diaadesign.com, in the next couple of weeks.
"We want to open stores closer to us first," he said.
Though Mzehem's business is mostly wholesale, he does do some retail. In addition to custom-designed gowns, he designs some prom dresses that begin at about $150, and he said he can guarantee there won't be another girl in the room with the same dress.
The couple said they love being a small-town company and that companies like theirs are what will revitalize the local economy.
"People think you have to be in a big city, but you don't today because we have the Internet and FedEx. We're proving that," he said. "We're extremely interested in expanding internationally, but we won't forget the place we started."
Ellie Mzehem loves watching her husband sketch and create designs.
"He loves what he does as an artist, whether it's painting or designing," she said.
For Mzehem, the most important thing about his work is that it's a family business. Katia, their 2 1/2-year-old daughter, is already picking up her parent's designer sense. Mzehem said he hopes his daughter will be an artist as well.
"It's a big plus to be able to keep my family together as I do this," he said.