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”.
