Alber Elbaz

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Alber Elbaz
Born Albert Elbaz
12 June 1961
Casablanca, Morocco
Died Error: Need valid death date (first date): year, month, day
Paris, France
Nationality Israeli
Occupation Fashion designer
Partner(s) Alex Koo
Awards International Award, Council of Fashion Designers of America (2005)
Labels AZ Factory
(2019–2021)
Lanvin
(2001–2015)

Alber Elbaz (Hebrew: אלבר אלבז‎, 12 June 1961 – 24 April 2021) was a Moroccan-born Israeli fashion designer. He was the creative director of Lanvin in Paris from 2001 until 2015,[1][2][3][4] after having done stints at a number of other fashion houses, including Geoffrey Beene, Guy Laroche, and Yves Saint Laurent.[5] He founded the Richemont-backed label AZ Factory in 2019.

Early life and education

Albert Elbaz was born in Casablanca, Morocco, to a Moroccan Jewish family. Elbaz's father was a hairdresser, and his mother was a painter.[6] He immigrated to Israel with his family at the age of ten and grew up in Holon.[7] His mother became a cashier to support her four children (Elbaz had a brother and two sisters)[8] after her husband died.[6] 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.[9]

His mother encouraged Elbaz’s early interest in fashion (he had begun drawing dresses at seven years old) and gave him $800 when he left home for New York City in 1985 to pursue fashion professionally.[6]

Fashion career

Arriving in New York, Elbaz first worked for a bridal firm,[10] then trained over the course of seven years as a senior assistant to to Geoffrey Beene.[11] In New York, Elbaz dropped the last letter of his first name, becoming Alber so that his name would be pronounced correctly in New York as well as because he felt it made a better name for a fashion brand.[8]

From 1996 until 1998, Elbaz worked for the French house of Guy Laroche,[11] working from Paris as head of prêt-à-porter.[8] Appointed by Pierre Bergé, Elbaz next worked as creative director of Yves Saint Laurent from 1998 until he was fired after three seasons when Gucci bought the company.[11][12]

Elbaz began designing for Lanvin in 2001. He also held a minority stake in the company of nearly 18 percent.[13] 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.[14] Looking back on his career, Women's Wear Daily wrote, “His elegant, feminine designs and pulse-pounding runway shows, which had a carnival spirit, catapulted Lanvin to become a top Paris fashion house.”[10] He also created a trend for luxury brand jewelry by launching fabric-covered pearls.[15] His humorous sketches of everything from lollipops to his own face became a brand signature.[15] Elbaz's simple, feminine clothing, which has been compared to Lanvin's 1920s outfits, was lauded by the fashion press. In 2005 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."[16] Lanvin's business growth followed, with revenue increasing 60% in two years, from 2005 to 2007.[6]

While at Lanvin, Elbaz also collaborated with Acne Studios on a denim collection, called the Blue Collection, at the end of 2008.[17] In 2010, he led Lanvin’s work on an H&M line, including tulle dresses and bejeweled necklaces.[18] Notably, for his fall collection in 2012, the house’s 10th anniversary, Elbaz chose ordinary people to feature in Lanvin’s promotional campaign, including an 18-year-old musician and an 82-year-old retiree. [18]

In October 2015, Elbaz announced that he had been let go from Lanvin[19] after disagreements with the company's major shareholder, Shaw-Lan Wang.[13] Elbaz also complained about the lack of strategy and targeted investment of the company.[20] Shortly before he was fired, Elbaz had hired Chemena Kamali from Chloé as women’s design director.[12] Lanvin sales slumped following his departure in 2015 and the brand was eventually bought by China’s Fosun.[14]

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.[21] Thereafter he worked with various fashion brands, including Converse and LeSportsac.[22] In 2016, he launched a perfume called Superstitious, working with perfumer Dominique Ropion for the French perfume house Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle.[23] He later collaborated with Italian shoemaker Tod's on some loafer and bag designs in 2019. [14]

Also in 2019, he joined forces with Richemont to develop his own line, AZfashion, a brand intended to focus on “developing solutions for women of our times.”[14][24] AZ Factory launched in 2021.[25] It is Richemont's first involvement in a newly emerging brand[26] and focuses on creating streamlined foundational basics and technical knits, which the designer termed "switchwear."[27]

Art and graphics

File:Dress of the Year.jpg
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.[28]

Elbaz illustrated the song "Lady Jane" in singer-songwriter Mika's extended play Songs for Sorrow.[29]

In 2012, Rizzoli published a book of 3,000 photographs documenting Elbaz's work for Lanvin.[30]

In 2015, Elbaz curated “Alber Elbaz/Lanvin: Manifeste,” a photography exhibition at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris. The show exhibited more than 350 photographs taken during his time at Lanvin as well as sketches and design mock-ups.[31]

Personal life

Elbaz's life partner was Alex Koo, Lanvin's director of merchandising.[32][12]

Elbaz died of COVID-19 on 24 April 2021 in Paris, at the age of 59.[8][33]

Awards

See also

References

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External links

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  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ "Couture for Everyday" Archived January 8, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. LUX Magazine. September 2013.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ "At Lanvin, a master of improvisation", Suzy Menkes, International Herald Tribune, May 24, 2005
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Vanessa Friedman (July 9, 2019), Alber Elbaz Makes a Happy Return Archived 26 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine The New York Times.
  23. ↑ Astrid Wendlandt (October 3, 2016), Ex-Lanvin designer Elbaz turned nose for Frederic Malle Archived 26 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine Reuters.
  24. ↑ Vanessa Friedman (October 25, 2019), Alber Elbaz Is Back in Fashion Archived 26 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine The New York Times.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Dana Thomas (September 8, 2015), In a New Show, Lanvin’s Process Comes Into Focus Archived 26 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ The Time 100 Archived 28 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Natalie Portman May 3, 2007
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Astrid Wendlandt (October 3, 2016), Ex-Lanvin designer Elbaz turned nose for Frederic Malle Archived 26 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine Reuters.
  38. ↑ Joelle Diderich (March 28, 2016), Alber Elbaz Named Officer in Legion of Honor Archived 26 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine Women's Wear Daily.
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