When Michele Morrone became a global sensation as the magnetic Massimo Torricelli in Netflix’s 365 Days, millions of new fans started asking the same question: who is the woman he was once married to? The answer is Rouba Saadeh, a Lebanese fashion designer with a career that stands entirely on its own.
Long before the world knew Morrone’s name, Rouba was building a serious résumé in fashion — from the design rooms of Elie Saab to her own Beirut concept store, Le Paradis Des Fous, with degrees earned in Beirut, London, and Milan along the way. She married Morrone in 2014, had two sons with him, and divorced in 2018 — but her story was never just a marriage. There is much more to it than the “ex-wife” label suggests.
In this article, we cover Rouba Saadeh’s full story: her Beirut upbringing, her education, her detailed career timeline at Elie Saab, how she met Michele Morrone, their wedding, their two sons Marcus and Brando, the 2018 divorce, and where she is today.
Quick Bio
| Full Name | Rouba Saadeh |
| Known For | Lebanese fashion designer; ex-wife of actor Michele Morrone |
| Date of Birth | April 15, 1987 |
| Age | 39 (as of 2026) |
| Birthplace | Beirut, Lebanon |
| Nationality | Lebanese |
| Profession | Fashion designer; ready-to-wear studio manager at Elie Saab |
| Education | Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour; Lebanese American University (BSc Graphic Design, 2008; MBA, 2011); Central Saint Martins, London (summer courses); Istituto Marangoni, Milan (postgraduate diploma in fashion design, 2012) |
| Languages | Arabic, English, French, Italian |
| Parents | Mother: Manolia Mano Saadeh; father has never been made public |
| Siblings | Sister Abir Saadeh; one brother (name not public) |
| Spouse | Michele Morrone (married 2014 – divorced 2018) |
| Children | Marcus (b. 2014), Brando (b. 2017) |
| Current Status | Divorced; based in Beirut, working in fashion |
Who Is Rouba Saadeh?
Rouba Saadeh is a Lebanese fashion designer and entrepreneur best known to the wider public as the former wife of Italian actor and singer Michele Morrone. Within the fashion industry, though, she is known for something else: a steady, serious career that took her from graphic design in Beirut to the ready-to-wear studio of Elie Saab, one of the world’s most prestigious fashion houses.
She currently works as Elie Saab’s ready-to-wear studio manager in Beirut, a senior role she earned through years of work rather than connections. She is also the founder of Le Paradis Des Fous, a designer concept store she launched in Beirut in 2013. And she is the mother of two boys, Marcus and Brando, whom she co-parents with Morrone.
Unlike many people who become famous through a relationship, Rouba has never tried to convert her ex-husband’s fame into her own celebrity. Her Instagram presence — over 160,000 followers under @roubasaadeh — is curated and professional: fashion, travel, and family, shared on her own terms.
Early Life and Family in Beirut
Rouba Saadeh was born on April 15, 1987, in Beirut, Lebanon, and spent her childhood and early adulthood there. She grew up in a family that valued education and culture, alongside two siblings: a sister, Abir Saadeh, and a brother whose name has remained out of public records.
Her mother, Manolia Mano Saadeh, is occasionally mentioned in media accounts of the family. Her father, by contrast, has never been publicly identified — Rouba has kept that part of her family life entirely private. Growing up in Lebanon gave her a multicultural foundation — Arabic, French, and English all part of daily life — that later shaped both her design sensibility and her ease moving between Beirut, Italy, and the wider fashion world.
Education: From Graphic Design to Milan
Rouba’s education is one of the best-documented parts of her story, and it shows a young woman who kept raising her own bar. She attended Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour, a private Catholic school in Baabda, graduating with her high school diploma in 2004.
She then enrolled at the Lebanese American University (LAU), earning a Bachelor of Science in Graphic Design with an emphasis on digital media in 2008. Not content to stop there, she completed a Master of Business Administration at the same university in 2011 — a business foundation that would later serve her entrepreneurial ambitions.
Fashion was always the pull, though. She took summer fashion courses at Central Saint Martins in London, one of the world’s most influential art and design schools, and in 2012 completed a postgraduate diploma in fashion design at Istituto Marangoni in Milan. By her mid-twenties, Rouba held credentials from Beirut, London, and Milan — a genuinely international design education.
Career: Alfa MIC1, Elie Saab, and Le Paradis Des Fous
Rouba’s professional journey began in graphic design. She worked as a freelance graphic designer from 2008 onward, interned at Publicis Graphics Lebanon, and in April 2009 joined Alfa MIC1 — then a mobile startup — as a graphic web designer, a role she held for nearly three years.
The pivot to fashion came in September 2013, when she joined the legendary Lebanese fashion house Elie Saab as an assistant to the head of the design team, working across haute couture and prêt-à-porter. That same year, she took her biggest entrepreneurial swing: founding Le Paradis Des Fous (“The Paradise of Fools”), a designer concept store in Beirut conceived as a platform for emerging design talent from around the world — part boutique, part gallery, part talent incubator.
The store operated for a couple of years before closing, and in December 2014 Rouba stepped back from work to focus on her marriage and her growing family. It was a deliberate pause, not a retreat — as what came next would prove. Discover more inspiring career stories in our Celebrity section.
Returning to Elie Saab: Studio Manager
After her divorce, Rouba did what she had always done: went back to work. In June 2019 she rejoined Elie Saab in Beirut, this time as a ready-to-wear coordinator. Her rise from there was steady and merit-based: she became a studio supervisor in 2021, and in 2022 she was promoted to ready-to-wear studio manager — the senior role she still holds today.
It is a significant position. At a house like Elie Saab, the ready-to-wear studio manager sits at the center of the design process, coordinating between the creative team and production. Rouba earned it through a decade of combined experience in graphic design, business, and fashion — not through her famous last name, which by then was no longer even hers in the tabloid sense.
How Rouba Met Michele Morrone
Rouba and Michele Morrone met around 2011, introduced through mutual friends during one of his visits to Lebanon. The timing matters: this was years before 365 Days (2020) made Morrone a global name. He was a working Italian actor, not yet a star; she was a Beirut designer building her career.
They dated for a few years before marrying — a relationship that grew away from the spotlight, since neither of them was famous enough at the time to attract it. It is one of the quieter celebrity love stories: no red-carpet debut, no tabloid courtship, just two young creatives from different corners of the Mediterranean finding each other through friends.
Marriage in 2014: Two Ceremonies
In 2014, Rouba and Michele married — and true to their private style, they did it twice over but quietly. They held a civil wedding ceremony in Italy and a small, intimate celebration in Lebanon with close family and friends. The couple never released wedding photos or details to the press.
Their first son, Marcus, was born in 2014, the same year they married. Their second son, Brando, followed in 2017. For four years, they built a family life split between Rouba’s Beirut world and Morrone’s increasingly demanding acting career in Italy and beyond.
Marcus and Brando: Life as a Mother
Rouba’s two sons, Marcus (born 2014) and Brando (born 2017), are the center of her life. She lives with the boys in Beirut and manages their daily routine, balancing full-time work at Elie Saab with motherhood — a juggle she has handled with the same organizational rigor she brings to a design studio.
Morrone, for his part, has stayed actively involved despite a career that keeps him traveling. He has shared glimpses of fatherhood on social media — videos of his sons singing, moments of them riding motocross bikes — showing a warm, hands-on relationship with both boys that has continued after the divorce.
The 2018 Divorce and Cordial Co-Parenting
In 2018, after four years of marriage, Rouba and Michele divorced. Neither has ever publicly explained the reason for the split — and both have kept it that way, declining to turn a private ending into public content.
What is known is that the separation has been handled with unusual maturity by celebrity-divorce standards. Reports consistently describe their post-divorce relationship as cordial and cooperative. They share custody of Marcus and Brando, both remain active in the boys’ lives, and there has been no public acrimony — no bitter interviews, no social-media warfare, no custody drama playing out in headlines.
Morrone has occasionally spoken about the difficulty of the separation in interviews, while Rouba has chosen to keep her private life discreet — a difference in style that has held since the beginning of their relationship.
Values and Family
Those who follow Rouba’s public presence describe a woman defined by independence and discretion. She could have leveraged her marriage to one of Netflix’s biggest stars into a personal brand; instead, she went back to a design studio and earned a promotion.
Her multilingual fluency — Arabic, English, French, and Italian — reflects a genuinely international life, and her Aries-birthday entrepreneurial streak (April 15) shows in everything from the concept store to her steady climb at Elie Saab. Family, though, comes first: her devotion to Marcus and Brando is the one theme that runs through every account of her life.
Life Today: Fashion, Family, and Privacy
Today, Rouba Saadeh, 39, lives in Beirut, where she works as Elie Saab’s ready-to-wear studio manager and raises her two sons. Her Instagram (@roubasaadeh), with its 160,000-plus followers, offers a window into a life of fashion weeks, travel, and family moments — curated, elegant, and notably drama-free.
As for Morrone, he is not currently married. Since the divorce he has been linked to several public figures — including model Moara Sorio, whom he dated from late 2022 into 2023, and sports journalist Marialuisa Jacobelli, with whom he was photographed in early 2025 — while rumored connections to figures like Khloé Kardashian and Megan Fox were denied by representatives on both sides. His current relationship status is considered private.
Rouba, meanwhile, has stayed focused on the two things she has always prioritized: her craft and her children. The fashion designer who once built a concept store to champion emerging talent is now helping steer one of couture’s great houses — on her own terms, in her own city.
The Bottom Line
Rouba Saadeh’s story is a reminder that the “ex-wife of” label is almost always too small for the woman wearing it. Before Michele Morrone was famous, she was already a designer with degrees from three countries; during the marriage, she built a family; after it, she rebuilt a career at the top of her industry.
She is, by every available account, exactly what she appears to be: a talented Lebanese fashion designer, a devoted mother of two, and a private person who chose substance over spotlight. In an era of personal branding, that choice — made consistently, for years — is its own kind of statement.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Rouba Saadeh?
Rouba Saadeh was born on April 15, 1987, in Beirut, Lebanon, which makes her 39 years old as of 2026.
What does Rouba Saadeh do for a living?
She is a fashion designer and currently works as the ready-to-wear studio manager at the fashion house Elie Saab in Beirut. She previously founded her own designer concept store, Le Paradis Des Fous, in 2013.
How did Rouba Saadeh and Michele Morrone meet?
They were introduced through mutual friends around 2011, during one of Morrone’s visits to Lebanon — years before he became famous through Netflix’s 365 Days. They dated for a few years before marrying in 2014.
How many children do Rouba Saadeh and Michele Morrone have?
They have two sons together: Marcus, born in 2014, and Brando, born in 2017. Rouba lives with the boys in Beirut, and both parents share custody.
When did Rouba Saadeh and Michele Morrone divorce?
They divorced in 2018 after four years of marriage. Neither has ever publicly shared the reason for the split, and they have maintained a cordial co-parenting relationship.
Is Rouba Saadeh active on social media?
Yes. She is active on Instagram under the handle @roubasaadeh, where she has gathered over 160,000 followers, sharing fashion content, travel, and family moments.
What is Rouba Saadeh’s net worth?
Various entertainment outlets estimate her net worth between $500,000 and $2 million, based on her fashion career and business ventures. These are unverified estimates — she has never disclosed her finances publicly.
