Alber Elbaz

Alber Elbaz (Hebrew: אלבר אלבז‎, born 6 February 1961) is an Israeli fashion designer. After positions at a number of other fashion houses, he was the creative director of Lanvin in Paris from 2001 until 2015.[1][2][3][4]

Alber Elbaz
Born (1961-02-06) 6 February 1961
Casablanca, Morocco
NationalityIsraeli
Occupationfashion designer
Years active1970－present
Label(s)
Lanvin
(2001－2015)
Partner(s)Alex Koo
AwardsInternational Award, Council of Fashion Designers of America (2005)

Early life and education

Elbaz was born in Casablanca, Morocco, to a Moroccan Jewish family. Elbaz's father was a hairdresser, and his mother was a painter.[5] He immigrated to Israel with his family at the age of ten and grew up in Holon.[6][7] His mother became a cashier to support her four children after her husband died.[8] Elbaz later served as a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, and subsequently he studied at the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design in Ramat Gan.

His mother encouraged Elbaz - who started drawing dresses at the age of seven - and gave him $800 when he left home, in 1985, to go to New York City and pursue a career in fashion.[9] There he was trained during seven years with Geoffrey Beene.[10]

Fashion career

From 1996 until 1998, Elbaz worked for the French house of Guy Laroche.[11]

Appointed by Pierre Bergé, Elbaz worked as creative director of Yves Saint Laurent from 1998 until he was fired after three seasons when Gucci bought the company.[12][13]

Elbaz began designing for Lanvin in 2001. He also held a minority stake in the company of nearly 18 percent.[14] During his 14-year tenure, he was credited with reviving the French couture house’s fortunes, with modern takes on silk cocktail dresses and colorful, feminine designs.[15] He also created a trend for luxury brand jewelry by launching fabric-covered pearls.[16] His humorous sketches of everything from lollipops to his own face became a brand signature.[17]

While at Lanvin, Elbaz also collaborated with Acne Studios on a denim collection at the end of 2008. In 2010, he led Lanvin’s work on an H&M line, including tulle dresses and bejeweled necklaces.[18] Notably, for his fall 2012 campaign (which coincided with the house’s 10th anniversary), Elbaz chose real people to feature in Lanvin’s advertising campaign; among the models were an 18-year-old musician and an 82-year-old retiree.[19] In 2015, he curated “Alber Elbaz/Lanvin: Manifeste,” a photography exhibition at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP) in Paris, comprising more than 350 pictures taken during his tenure alongside sketches and design mock-ups.[20]

In October 2015, Elbaz announced that he had been let go from the fashion house[21] after disagreements with the company's major shareholder, Shaw-Lan Wang.[22] Elbaz also complained about the lack of strategy and targeted investment of the company.[23] Shortly before he was fired, Elbaz had hired Chemena Kamali from Chloé as women’s design director.[24] Lanvin sales slumped following his departure in 2015 and the brand was eventually bought by China’s Fosun.[25]

After leaving Lanvin, Elbaz designed all of the costumes Natalie Portman wore in the 2016 film A Tale of Love and Darkness which she also wrote and directed.[26] He has since worked with various luxury brands, including Converse and LeSportsac.[27] In 2016, he created a perfume called Superstitious for the French perfume house Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle.[28] He later collaborated with Italian shoemaker Tod's on some loafer and bag designs in 2019.[29] Also in 2019, he joined forces with Richemont on launching AZfashion, a brand that is to focus on “developing solutions for women of our times.”[30][31]

Art and graphics
Dress of the Year 2005

In 2006, Elbaz introduced new packaging for Lanvin, featuring a light forget-me-not blue color, a favorite shade which Lanvin purportedly had seen in a Fra Angelico fresco. Packaging included shopping bags imprinted with Paul Iribe's 1907 illustration of Lanvin and her daughter Marguerite, and shoe boxes designed like antique library files, tied with black ribbons to emphasize the precious nature of the product.

Elbaz illustrated the song "Lady Jane" in singer-songwriter Mika's extended play Songs for Sorrow.[32]

In 2012, Rizzoli published a book of 3,000 photographs documenting Elbaz's work for Lanvin.[33]

Awards and recognition

Elbaz's simple, feminine clothing, which has been compared to Lanvin's 1920s outfits, has been lauded by the fashion press. Suzy Menkes wrote: "Elbaz is every woman's darling. And that includes Nicole, Kate, Chloë Sevigny, Sofia Coppola and a slew of rising movie names."[39]

Personal life

Elbaz's life partner is Alex Koo, Lanvin's director of merchandising.[40][41]

gollark: CONSODWR OT.
gollark: HIEEVER, CONSIDER MACRON.
gollark: I AM ON A MPBILE SEVXIE
gollark: VIA MECHANISMS BEYOND YOUR COMPREJENSION
gollark: *NONE* ARW AKDKSAFE

See also

References
  1. "Alber Elbaz". Prestige Magazine. March 4, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
  2. "The Tatler List". Tatler. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016.
  3. "Couture for Everyday" Archived January 8, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. LUX Magazine. September 2013.
  4. "Alber Elbaz Pushed Out at Lanvin". WWD. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  5. Ariel Levy (May 17, 2009), "I wish I knew how to enjoy it more" The Guardian.
  7. Vogue's Alber Elbaz Biography
  8. Ariel Levy (May 17, 2009), "I wish I knew how to enjoy it more" The Guardian.
  9. Ariel Levy (May 17, 2009), "I wish I knew how to enjoy it more" The Guardian.
  10. Suzy Menkes (June 9, 1998), Alber Elbaz Gets Aboard at YSL: A New Generation In Ready-to-Wear International Herald Tribune.
  11. Suzy Menkes (June 9, 1998), Alber Elbaz Gets Aboard at YSL: A New Generation In Ready-to-Wear International Herald Tribune.
  12. Suzy Menkes (June 9, 1998), Alber Elbaz Gets Aboard at YSL: A New Generation In Ready-to-Wear International Herald Tribune.
  13. Vanessa Friedman (December 17, 2015), Lanvin and Alber Elbaz: The Story of a Breakup The New York Times.
  14. Astrid Wendlandt (October 28, 2015), Elbaz leaves fashion label Lanvin, Wang rejected offers Reuters.
  15. Sarah White (October 25, 2019), Richemont teams up with designer Alber Elbaz for fashion venture Reuters.
  16. Sam Schechner and Christina Binkley (October 28, 2015), Longtime Creative Director Alber Elbaz Is Leaving Lanvin The Wall Street Journal.
  17. Sam Schechner and Christina Binkley (October 28, 2015), Longtime Creative Director Alber Elbaz Is Leaving Lanvin The Wall Street Journal.
  18. Isabel Wilkinson and Hilary Moss (October 28, 2015), Ten Things to Know About Alber Elbaz’s Lanvin T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
  19. Isabel Wilkinson and Hilary Moss (October 28, 2015), Ten Things to Know About Alber Elbaz’s Lanvin T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
  20. Dana Thomas (September 8, 2015), In a New Show, Lanvin’s Process Comes Into Focus T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
  21. CONLON, SCARLETT. "Confirmed: Alber Elbaz Departing Lanvin". Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  22. Astrid Wendlandt (October 28, 2015), Elbaz leaves fashion label Lanvin, Wang rejected offers Reuters.
  23. "Confirmed: Alber Elbaz Departing Lanvin". www.vogue.co.uk. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  24. Vanessa Friedman (December 17, 2015), Lanvin and Alber Elbaz: The Story of a Breakup The New York Times.
  25. Sarah White (October 25, 2019), Richemont teams up with designer Alber Elbaz for fashion venture Reuters.
  26. Minow, Nell. "Interview: Natalie Portman on "A Tale of Love and Darkness"". Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  27. Vanessa Friedman (July 9, 2019), Alber Elbaz Makes a Happy Return The New York Times.
  28. Astrid Wendlandt (October 3, 2016), Ex-Lanvin designer Elbaz turned nose for Frederic Malle Reuters.
  29. Sarah White (October 25, 2019), Richemont teams up with designer Alber Elbaz for fashion venture Reuters.
  30. Sarah White (October 25, 2019), Richemont teams up with designer Alber Elbaz for fashion venture Reuters.
  31. Vanessa Friedman (October 25, 2019), Alber Elbaz Is Back in Fashion The New York Times.
  32. "Mika and Lanvin book launch". www.vogue.co.uk. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  33. The Inside Story of a Couture Dream in the Making
  34. The Time 100, Natalie Portman May 3, 2007
  35. "Honorary Doctors". RCA. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  36. Vanessa Friedman (December 17, 2015), Lanvin and Alber Elbaz: The Story of a Breakup The New York Times.
  37. Astrid Wendlandt (October 3, 2016), Ex-Lanvin designer Elbaz turned nose for Frederic Malle Reuters.
  38. Joelle Diderich (March 28, 2016), Alber Elbaz Named Officer in Legion of Honor Women's Wear Daily.
  39. "At Lanvin, a master of improvisation", Suzy Menkes, International Herald Tribune, May 24, 2005
  40. The New Yorker: Profil Alber Ebaz
  41. Vanessa Friedman (December 17, 2015), Lanvin and Alber Elbaz: The Story of a Breakup The New York Times.
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