Lanvin: Alber Elbaz's Edgy Anniversary
Fashion celebrated one of its most important voices Friday night, March 2, in Paris when Alber Elbaz staged his tenth anniversary show for Lanvin, a tigerish display of protective seduction.
Waiters served slices from towering birthday cakes pre-show to the assembled mass of 1,500 fashion editors and insiders on the extended runway in Halle Freyssinet, as paparazzi swarmed around snapping the movie stars and musicians come to pay homage to Elbaz, one of the half dozen most influential designers in the world this past decade.
Never one to rest on his laurels, Elbaz took his evocative style somewhere new in an opening composed mainly of curvaceous neoprene cocktails and coat dresses. Cut like chess pieces, finished well above the knee, dissected by sturdy belts and made in tough chic colors of deep purple and sunset yellows, it made for a dramatic opening.
Suddenly changing gears, Elbaz sent out elaborately embellished suits, finished with fist sized crystals, amber nuggets, and metallic chains and lace. Though the key detail was the fierce tiger head that growled on hefty amulets and belt buckles.
Elbaz is famed for his hands-on draping and industrious search for a romantic flowing style, though for this decade-anniversary he gave the clothes a notably tougher finish.
Burnished gold swing coats, exaggerated fiery red paisley cocktails and emerald fox stoles exemplified the more assertive attitude. Boldly streaked floral dresses and graphic fur coats drew an avalanche of cheers and clapping from the audience perched on the 100 yard long bleachers on either side of the black concrete catwalk.
Born in Casablanca, though raised in Morocco, Elbaz in his ten years at Lanvin, has taken a sleepy French institution and remade it into one of the most influential labels in the world. After seven years in the studio of Geoffrey Beene, and stints as the designer of Guy Laroche and Yves Saint Laurent, Elbaz arrived at Lanvin in October 2001, reviving an old family label to star status.
His frayed hems, quixotic sense of style, subtly surreal silhouette and use of bold insignia and ceremonial medallions are deeply embedded in today's fashion codes. Few designers have more defined the style of our times, for both men and women, even if this show felt as if Elbaz was trying a bit too hard to celebrate this fashion birthday. All the same, he has probably dressed more major actresses than any of his rivals, and that's without giving any clothes away, as many brands do via their New York and Los Angeles publicists.
"It's been a special ten years. But tonight is about the past and also the future. Looking at romance in a new way," Elbaz said, after he took his encore by singing the first half of "Que Sera Sera," on a stage backed up by the symphonic dance band Pink Martini.
As cabaret singer and drag queen Joey Arias finished off the Elbaz's song intro, the designer took an extended tour, to a noisy standing ovation, before the audience began dancing into the wee hours - feting a unique fashion voice.
