In the latest shocking news to hit the fashion world, designer musical chairs continues with the announcement that Alber Elbazis leaving Lanvin after 14 years as creative director.The designer who got his start as Geoffrey Beene's assistant later reached global attention as the designer for Guy Laroche. Elbaz was Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge's handpicked successor at YSL before the company was bought by the Gucci Group and Tom Ford replaced Elbaz after only a few season.
Lanvin seemed to be the perfect home for the charming, non-trendy designer. Over a century old, Lanvin was started by a woman, Jeanne Lanvin, and Elbaz has made it a brand that loves women and celebrates them.
In the past few months we've had Alexander Wang leave Balenciaga and Raf Simons leave Dior -- does this mean we'll be hearing an announcement soon that Elbaz will be moving into Simons' slot?
In a New York Times piece about Simons' departure, however, Elbaz had this to say to about the cut throat industry: "It's not about new designers and old designers, it's about good designers and bad designers. You can have a full wallet, but if there's nothing to spend it on -- off with his head! It's the system. We are all going through the same thing. But it is times like this that expose the problems in the system, which is good, because only when we see them can we start to fix them. Everyone in fashion just needs a little more time."
Guess time will only tell where Elbaz lands.