Before she was ever “Michele Morrone’s ex-wife,” Rouba Saadeh was a Beirut fashion insider with a graphic design degree, an MBA, a Milan fashion diploma, and a job at Elie Saab — one of the most prestigious fashion houses in the world. The headlines found her through her marriage. Her résumé was already written.
Her four-year marriage to the 365 Days star made her name searchable across the globe, and its ending in 2018 coincided with the most turbulent period of Morrone’s life — the depression and near-abandonment of acting he later described in his own words. Through all of it, Rouba did something few celebrity ex-spouses manage: she kept building her own career.
But there is much more to the story. This is the complete picture of Rouba Saadeh — her Lebanese roots and formidable education, her climb inside Elie Saab, the designer store she founded, her marriage and motherhood, and where she stands today.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Rouba Saadeh |
| Known For | Lebanese fashion designer; ex-wife of actor Michele Morrone |
| Birth Date | April 15, 1987 |
| Age | 39 |
| Birthplace | Beirut, Lebanon |
| Nationality | Lebanese |
| Profession | Fashion designer; ready-to-wear studio manager at Elie Saab; founder of Le Paradis Des Fous |
| Parents | Mother: Manolia Mano Saadeh; father not publicly known |
| Spouse | Michele Morrone (married 2014; divorced 2018) |
| Children | Two sons: Marcus (b. 2014) and Brando (b. 2017) |
| Current Status | Divorced; based in Lebanon; working at Elie Saab |
Who Is Rouba Saadeh?
Rouba Saadeh is a Lebanese fashion designer and stylist who built a serious career in high fashion before — and after — her marriage to Italian actor and singer Michele Morrone. She is the founder of Le Paradis Des Fous, a designer concept store in Beirut, and has spent years inside the Elie Saab fashion house, where she now serves as ready-to-wear studio manager.
She became globally known through her 2014–2018 marriage to Morrone, the star of Netflix’s 365 Days. But reducing her to a famous ex-wife misses the point of her story: unlike many celebrity spouses, Rouba arrived with her own profession, kept it through the marriage, and advanced in it after the divorce.
Early Life and Education
Rouba was born on April 15, 1987, in Beirut, Lebanon, and raised there in a Christian family. Her mother is Manolia Mano Saadeh; her father’s identity has never been made public. She grew up alongside two siblings — a sister, Abir Saadeh, and a brother whose name has remained off the record.
Her education is unusually extensive for a fashion biography. She attended Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour in Baabda, graduating in 2004 with a French high school diploma and a Lebanese Baccalaureate in Experimental Science. She then earned a Bachelor of Science in Graphic Design, majoring in digital media, from the Lebanese American University in 2008 — followed a year later by a Master of Business Administration from the same university.
Fashion came next, and she pursued it at the highest level: a postgraduate diploma in fashion design from Istituto Marangoni in Milan, one of the world’s most renowned fashion institutes, plus a summer course in fashion design at Central Saint Martins in London. Along the way she became fluent in four languages — Arabic, English, French, and Italian — a toolkit that would serve a career straddling Beirut, Milan, and Paris.
A Fashion Career Before the Spotlight
Rouba’s professional path shows a designer who worked her way up rather than arriving by connection. She began in 2008 as a freelance graphic designer, then spent nearly three years from 2009 as a graphic web designer at Alfa MIC1. In September 2013 she joined the world-famous fashion house Elie Saab as assistant to the head of the design team.
That same year, 2013, she launched her own venture: Le Paradis Des Fous, a designer concept store in Beirut conceived as a platform for emerging design talent, blending art and style. It was an entrepreneur’s move — building something of her own while working inside a couture powerhouse.
After her marriage ended, she returned to Elie Saab in 2019 as a ready-to-wear coordinator, was promoted to studio supervisor in 2021, and since 2022 has held the position of ready-to-wear studio manager. That steady climb — documented across her professional record — is the strongest evidence that her fashion career stands entirely on its own merits.
The studio manager role is no ceremonial title. Inside a couture house, it means overseeing the ready-to-wear atelier’s daily operations — coordinating between designers, patternmakers, and production teams to bring seasonal collections from sketch to finished garment. It is a position that demands both creative judgment and operational discipline, and it draws directly on everything Rouba studied: the graphic design eye, the MBA’s management training, and the Milan fashion diploma. Few celebrity ex-spouses can point to a résumé line that specific — or that earned.
The Marriage to Michele Morrone
Rouba met Michele Morrone in the early 2010s after being introduced through mutual friends, and the two began dating around 2013. They married in 2014 in private ceremonies held in both Italy and Lebanon, with only family and close friends invited. No detailed public account of either ceremony has ever been released.
Morrone, born October 3, 1990, in Melegnano, Italy, was then a working Italian actor years away from global fame. Their marriage coincided with his grind through Italian television and film — the 365 Days breakthrough that would make him an international star did not arrive until 2020, two years after the divorce.
Life as a Mother
The couple welcomed two sons during their four-year marriage: Marcus, born in September 2014, and Brando, born in September 2017. (Spellings vary across sources — Marcud, Marcos, Brado, Brandon — but Marcus and Brando are the most consistently reported.)
After the divorce, both parents committed to co-parenting. Rouba has kept her children largely out of the spotlight while sharing occasional family moments with her 150,000-plus Instagram followers at @roubasaadeh, where she posts selfies, family content, and fashion work. Morrone has spoken warmly about fatherhood, telling Elle India in 2021 that it is “the most difficult job” and that the most important thing he teaches his sons is to have passion.
After the Divorce
The marriage ended in 2018, and the reasons were never publicly explained — a privacy both parties have maintained. But Morrone later revealed how devastating the split was for him. In a raw February 2020 Instagram post, he wrote: “A year and a half ago I was about to leave everything, I didn’t want to act anymore. I was in a severe state of depression after divorcing my wife. I found work as a gardener in a remote village of 1000 inhabitants because I had no more money in my pocket.”
Rouba, characteristically, said nothing publicly. She did not give interviews about the divorce, did not trade on the story, and did not slow her career. While her ex-husband’s name generated dating rumors — with Khloé Kardashian, with co-star Anna Maria Sieklucka (a joke he later clarified), with Megan Fox (debunked by his team in December 2024) — Rouba stayed focused on her work and her sons in Beirut.
Where Is Rouba Saadeh Now?
As of 2026, Rouba Saadeh remains based in Lebanon, working as ready-to-wear studio manager at Elie Saab — a senior creative-operations role inside one of fashion’s most respected houses. She has not remarried, and no current relationship has been publicly confirmed; she is reported to be single and focused on her career and her children.
Her Instagram presence (@roubasaadeh) continues to blend the personal and professional: fashion, family moments, and glimpses of the Beirut design world she never left. It is the profile of a woman who was never defined by a four-year marriage — and who made sure of it.
Bottom Line
Rouba Saadeh’s story inverts the usual celebrity-spouse narrative. She did not become interesting when she married Michele Morrone; she was already a multilingual designer with degrees from three institutions and a job at Elie Saab. The marriage made her famous. The divorce tested her privacy. And the career she built before either of them is the reason her name will outlast the headlines.
Who is Rouba Saadeh?
A Lebanese fashion designer and stylist — founder of the Beirut concept store Le Paradis Des Fous and ready-to-wear studio manager at Elie Saab — best known as the ex-wife of Italian actor Michele Morrone.
How old is Rouba Saadeh?
She was born on April 15, 1987, in Beirut, Lebanon, which makes her 39 years old.
What does Rouba Saadeh do for a living?
She works in high fashion: she is the ready-to-wear studio manager at Elie Saab, previously worked as a graphic and web designer, and founded her own designer concept store, Le Paradis Des Fous, in Beirut in 2013.
How many children does Rouba Saadeh have?
Two sons with Michele Morrone: Marcus, born in September 2014, and Brando, born in September 2017. The former couple co-parents amicably.
When did Rouba Saadeh and Michele Morrone divorce?
In 2018, after four years of marriage. Neither party has publicly explained the reasons for the split.
Is Rouba Saadeh remarried?
No. She has not remarried since the 2018 divorce, and no current relationship has been publicly confirmed.
