Alber Elbaz
Fashion Designer
Born in Casablanca and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel, Alber Elbaz was a fashion designer, and formerly artistic director of the French fashion house Lanvin for 14 years.
Elbaz studied fashion design in Israel, moving to New York in the late eighties to work with designer Geoffrey Beene. In 1996, he returned to Europe to take up the position of head designer at Guy Laroche. In 1998, he was personally selected by Yves Saint Laurent to succeed him as designer of the Rive Gauche ready-to-wear line.
When the house was acquired by the Gucci Group, Elbaz left Yves Saint Laurent, having shown only three shows. He then designed a collection for the Italian house Krizia before his appointment at Lanvin in October 2001.
Importing a talent for drapery learned at Geoffrey Beene, and a feeling for colour inherited from Yves Saint Laurent, Elbaz raised the profile of France's oldest couture house. Having long declared his infatuation with the female form, he described his role at Lanvin as 'armourer and empowerer' of women. Elbaz was awarded the Legion d'Honneur in 2007.
Elbaz departed Lanvin in October 2015. Following his departure, Elbaz designed the costumes Natalie Portman wore in the 2016 film A Tale of Love and Darkness, which Portman also wrote and directed. He has since worked with various luxury brands, including Converse and LeSportsac, and in 2016, he created a perfume called Superstitious for the French perfume house Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle. He later collaborated with Italian shoemaker Tod's on loafer and bag designs in 2019. 2019 also saw him announce his comeback to fashion via a deal with Richemont: a new brand called AZfashion.
On Saturday 24 April 2021, Elbaz died suddenly from COVID-19.
Born in Casablanca and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel, Alber Elbaz was a fashion designer, and formerly artistic director of the French fashion house Lanvin for 14 years.
Elbaz studied fashion design in Israel, moving to New York in the late eighties to work with designer Geoffrey Beene. In 1996, he returned to Europe to take up the position of head designer at Guy Laroche. In 1998, he was personally selected by Yves Saint Laurent to succeed him as designer of the Rive Gauche ready-to-wear line.
When the house was acquired by the Gucci Group, Elbaz left Yves Saint Laurent, having shown only three shows. He then designed a collection for the Italian house Krizia before his appointment at Lanvin in October 2001.
Importing a talent for drapery learned at Geoffrey Beene, and a feeling for colour inherited from Yves Saint Laurent, Elbaz raised the profile of France's oldest couture house. Having long declared his infatuation with the female form, he described his role at Lanvin as 'armourer and empowerer' of women. Elbaz was awarded the Legion d'Honneur in 2007.
Elbaz departed Lanvin in October 2015. Following his departure, Elbaz designed the costumes Natalie Portman wore in the 2016 film A Tale of Love and Darkness, which Portman also wrote and directed. He has since worked with various luxury brands, including Converse and LeSportsac, and in 2016, he created a perfume called Superstitious for the French perfume house Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle. He later collaborated with Italian shoemaker Tod's on loafer and bag designs in 2019. 2019 also saw him announce his comeback to fashion via a deal with Richemont: a new brand called AZfashion.
On Saturday 24 April 2021, Elbaz died suddenly from COVID-19.
