Alber Elbaz leaves Lanvin after 14 years

Last week Raf Simons shocked the fashion industry by stepping down from his position of creative director at the house of Christian Dior. Now, in a similarly shocking move, WWD has announced that Alber Elbaz will be leaving Lanvin – after a 14 years at the helm. 

While representatives for the house are yet to comment, the publication reports that the decision will likely be a “mutual agreement” following “disagreements between the charismatic Israeli designer and company principals: owner Shaw-Lan Wang and chief executive officer Michèle Huiban.”

Since joining the house in 2001, Elbaz has risen to become one of the industry’s most revered designers, gaining a reputation for his elegant, draped designs.

Last week, at the 2015 Fashion Group International's Night of Stars event, the designer gave a 16-minute speech after accepting an award from Meryl Streep. In this speech, he voiced some of his frustrations with the industry – namely its fast pace. “I said, ‘I need more time.’ And I think everybody in fashion these days needs just a little more time.”

Elbaz spoke about how many designers “started as couturiers with dreams, with intuitions and feelings,” but were now just “image-makers”. He also discussed fashion’s demand for “loudness” and how he prefers “whispering”.