Rouba Saadeh: The Fashion Designer Who Was Michele Morrone’s Wife
Rouba Saadeh is a Lebanese fashion designer and entrepreneur best known as the ex-wife of Italian actor Michele Morrone, the star of Netflix’s 365 Days. But reducing her to a celebrity ex would miss the real story: Saadeh built a genuine career in luxury fashion — working with the house of Elie Saab and founding her own concept store, Le Paradis Des Fous — before, during, and after a four-year marriage that made her name known around the world. Today she balances high-level fashion work in Beirut with raising the two sons she shares with Morrone, all while keeping her private life remarkably guarded.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Rouba Saadeh |
| Known For | Lebanese fashion designer; founder of Le Paradis Des Fous; ready-to-wear studio manager at Elie Saab |
| Spouse or Ex | Michele Morrone (married 2014; divorced 2018) |
| Ethnicity & Nationality | Lebanese (Arab) ethnicity; Lebanese nationality |
| Children | Two sons: Marcus and Brando Morrone |
Who Is Rouba Saadeh?
Born April 15, 1987, in Beirut, Lebanon, she is a fashion designer whose professional credentials stand apart from her tabloid fame. She is currently the ready-to-wear studio manager at Elie Saab, one of the most prestigious couture houses in the world, and the founder of Le Paradis Des Fous, a fashion concept store and label she established in 2013. Her career path runs through graphic design, luxury fashion, and entrepreneurship — a trajectory she built through years of formal education in Beirut, London, and Milan.
Most of the world learned her name through her marriage to Michele Morrone, the Italian actor, model, and singer who became a global sensation as Massimo Torricelli in the 2020 erotic drama 365 Days and its sequels. They married in 2014 and divorced in 2018, sharing two young sons. Since the split, Saadeh has returned to fashion full-time while maintaining an exceptionally low public profile — no tell-all interviews, no reality television, just work and motherhood. In an era when celebrity exes often monetize their connections, her discretion has become part of her reputation.
Early Life and Background
She was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, to Manolia Mano Saadeh, and grew up alongside her siblings, including a sister named Abir Saadeh. She has kept details about her father and childhood largely private. For her early schooling she attended Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour in Baabda, one of Lebanon’s well-known French-language schools, completing her secondary education there in 2004.
Her higher education was extensive and deliberately international. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Graphic Design and Digital Media from the Lebanese American University in 2008, followed by a Master of Business Administration from the same university. She then pursued her growing passion for fashion abroad: summer courses at Central Saint Martins in London and a postgraduate diploma in fashion design from Istituto Marangoni, completed in 2012. That combination — design craft plus business training plus European fashion-school polish — would define her professional approach.
Beirut in the 2000s was an ambitious place to study design. Lebanon’s fashion industry, led globally by Elie Saab’s red-carpet couture, gave young designers a rare thing in the region: a local hero to apprentice under. Saadeh’s early years in graphic and web design — including nearly three years at Alfa-MIC1 — gave her a digital fluency that many classically trained designers lacked, and it shows in how she later built Le Paradis Des Fous as both a label and a concept, blending visual branding with garment design.
Her career began in graphic and web design, including a stint at the Alfa-MIC1 corporation starting in 2009. In September 2013 she joined Elie Saab as an assistant to the head of the design group, and that same year she founded her own venture, Le Paradis Des Fous. She stepped back from professional life in late 2014 to focus on her marriage and young children, then returned to Elie Saab in Beirut in June 2019 after her divorce — this time in the senior role of ready-to-wear studio manager.
Relationship with Michele Morrone
She married Michele Morrone in 2014, in private ceremonies held in both Italy and Lebanon — a fitting reflection of their two cultures. At the time, Morrone was a working Italian actor known domestically for television and small film roles; his global breakthrough with 365 Days was still six years away. Their marriage lasted four years, ending in divorce in 2018.
The couple had two sons together: Marcus, born in September 2014, and Brando, born in September 2017. After the divorce, the boys remained primarily with Saadeh in Beirut, and both parents have spoken about co-parenting. Morrone himself has been candid about how difficult the split was — writing in 2020 that he went through a severe depression after the divorce, nearly quit acting, and worked as a gardener in a small Italian village before 365 Days changed his life. His account underscores that the marriage, though brief in public memory, was deeply significant to both of them.
The decision to hold ceremonies in both Italy and Lebanon reflected the couple’s determination to honor both families. In the years since, they have managed something celebrity divorces rarely achieve: genuine quiet. There have been no public disputes over the children, no competing interviews, and no social-media sparring. Morrone’s occasional Instagram photos with Marcus and Brando — beach days, guitar sessions — suggest a co-parenting rhythm that works, with Saadeh providing the Beirut home base while his acting career keeps him traveling.
Unlike many high-profile separations, theirs has remained notably dignified. Saadeh has never spoken publicly against Morrone, and he has described their co-parenting in warm terms, sharing photos with their sons and calling fatherhood one of the most amazing things life has given him. For readers following the family stories behind famous faces — from Carlos Alman, father of Cardi B, to the much-discussed Peter Orszag wig story — the Saadeh-Morrone chapter stands out for how privately both parties handled it. More on Morrone’s career and background can be found on Michele Morrone’s Wikipedia page.
Ethnicity and Nationality
Rouba Saadeh is Lebanese by both nationality and ethnicity, born in Beirut to a Lebanese family. Lebanon’s population is predominantly Arab, with deep Phoenician, Arab, and Mediterranean roots, and Saadeh’s background reflects that Levantine heritage. She was raised in Lebanon’s French-influenced educational system and is reported to speak Arabic, French, English, and Italian — a linguistic range that mirrors Beirut’s famously cosmopolitan culture.
Her marriage to Morrone briefly made her part of an Italian-Lebanese family story, and her two sons carry both heritages: Italian on their father’s side, Lebanese on hers. She has been described in profiles as Christian by religion, though she has never publicly discussed her faith in detail — consistent with her overall privacy. What is clear is that her identity is firmly rooted in Beirut, the city where she was born, educated in her early years, built her business, and continues to work and raise her children.
Personal Life: Where Is Rouba Saadeh Now?
Today, she lives in Beirut, where she works as the ready-to-wear studio manager at Elie Saab while continuing her own creative ventures. She raises her two sons, Marcus and Brando, largely away from the media glare — Morrone has noted that the boys live in Lebanon with their mother, and he travels to spend time with them, sharing beach days and music-filled afternoons when he can.
She maintains a presence on Instagram under the handle @roubasaadeh, where her bio references her work with Elie Saab, but she uses it sparingly and professionally rather than as a celebrity platform. Various online estimates place her net worth between one and two million dollars, earned through her fashion career — though, as with most such figures, no official number exists. What is certain is that she rebuilt her professional life on her own terms after divorce: from stepping away in 2014 to raise babies, to returning to one of fashion’s most demanding houses five years later. That quiet resilience, more than any red-carpet moment, is the defining feature of her story.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Rouba Saadeh?
She is a Lebanese fashion designer and entrepreneur, currently the ready-to-wear studio manager at Elie Saab and founder of Le Paradis Des Fous. She is best known publicly as the ex-wife of Italian actor Michele Morrone.
How old is Rouba Saadeh?
She was born on April 15, 1987, in Beirut, Lebanon, making her 39 years old in 2026.
Why did Rouba Saadeh and Michele Morrone divorce?
The couple divorced in 2018 after four years of marriage. Neither has publicly detailed the reasons; Morrone has described going through a severe depression after the split, and both have focused on co-parenting their two sons.
How many children does Rouba Saadeh have?
She has two sons with Michele Morrone: Marcus, born in September 2014, and Brando, born in September 2017.
What is Rouba Saadeh’s ethnicity?
She is Lebanese by nationality and ethnicity, born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon.
Rouba Saadeh’s name will always be linked to Michele Morrone’s, but her own credentials — a Beirut atelier education, London and Milan fashion training, the house of Elie Saab, and a brand of her own founding — tell a fuller story. She entered the public eye through marriage and chose, deliberately, to build her life back around work, children, and privacy.
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