There comes a time every year when I tumble down the old Lanvin rabbit hole and find myself missing Alber Elbaz. Terribly. His untimely passing in 2021 still feels strangely impossible to believe. No one lasts forever, but a great legacy does (yes, Charli xcx’s new song featuring none other than David Cronenberg hit me right in the feelings).

I have countless favorite Alber Elbaz collections for Lanvin, but lately I keep returning to autumn–winter 2004. With Kate Moss and Linda Evangelista in the front row beneath a monumental chandelier, the show felt like an aristocratic family on the brink of bankruptcy, dressing for one last ball, one last soirée. Slightly antiqued crystal flower brooches were pinned onto day dresses, shredded chiffon roses tucked into buttonholes, and a grey fox fur was thrown nonchalantly over a heavenly white slip. A little black dress, cut just above the knee and exquisitely cinched at the waist, became an exercise in eveningwear virtuosity – the kind that made women around the world fall in love with Alber’s work. READ MY FULL TEXT HERE.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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