Lanvin names Bouchra Jarrar as new artistic director

Lanvin has announced that Cannes-born couturier Bouchra Jarrar will be succeeding Alber Elbaz as its new artistic director. According to WWD, Jarrar will assume her role on Monday and present her first collection during the SS17 show season in September.

“Joining Lanvin satisfies my desire to create and express myself in a space of larger expression,” Jarrar said in a statement, in which she also stated her intention to “bring to Lanvin the harmony and consistency of a fashion designed for women, a fashion of our time.”

“Her timeless style is in keeping with the style and values of our company,” says Lanvin’s CEO Michèle Huiban. “Her talent, her high standards and her mastery of cuts and fabrics will bring a breath of freshness and modernity into the house, while respecting its soul as the oldest Paris couture house, a symbol of French elegance.”

Lauded for her razor-sharp tailoring, Jarrar currently sits at the helm of her own eponymous couture house, which presents its collections at Paris’s Couture Fashion Week. She’s previously worked as studio director at Balenciaga (during Nicolas Ghesquière’s tenure) and as head of couture design for Christian Lacroix.

The announcement comes just a week after Lanvin’s AW16 runway show – its first since Elbaz’s departure – which was not received favourably by critics.