Lately I’m feeling very sentimental for the late Alber Elbaz‘s Lanvin. Maybe it’s also the anticipation for Peter Copping’s (hopeful) revival of the Parisian house. But I truly miss Elbaz and his incredible, unmatched approach to dress-making. The autumn-winter 2010 collection is one of my all-time favorite Alber for Lanvin moments. For day, it began with no-nonsense, clean silhouettes cut from matte stretch materials with a molded structure (see Magdalena Frąckowiak’s look!); dresses and coats were cut roomy in the shoulder, tapering to sensually clutch the hips. The eveningwear, consisting of simple jersey togas, was just so sublime. But with Elbaz, you always had minimalist ideas clashed with the joy of maximalism. The technical starkness of the collection was gradually steered away with the addition of chunky metal and rock-crystal jewelry, ostrich feather, sheer lace, and beaded spine-tracing zippers, building up to dynamic feats of diagonal pleating that crossed the torso in one direction and shot across the hips in the other. Dark, yet sensational glamour at its best.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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