Lanvin designer gets top award

Lanvin designer Alber Elbaz says his clothes are for any woman. Picture / Reuters

At a gala dinner in New York next month the world's fashion industry heavies will gather for the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards, and watch as the most glamorous celebrities gush over the lucky recipients.

Vera Wang, Ralph Rucci and Marc Jacobs compete this year for the womenswear award. John Bartlett, John Varvatos and Ralph Lauren have been nominated for the menswear award.

The international award has already been announced: the Lanvin designer Alber Elbaz.

His gong is well-deserved. Over the past four years, Elbaz, whom fashion writers invariably describe as "diminutive", "eccentric", and "adorable", has proven quite a force to be reckoned with.

Elbaz possesses raw talent the like of which is extremely rare.

In 1996, Yves Saint Laurent, preparing for retirement, offered the Israeli-born designer the chance to succeed him. How could the star-struck Elbaz refuse?

His first collection was rushed; his second, Saint Laurent's ready-to-wear line, Rive Gauche, made headlines and the front pages of the style press for the first time in years.

Nonetheless, when, in November 1999, Tom Ford took over as creative director of Yves Saint Laurent, after the Gucci Group bought the brand, it immediately became apparent that Elbaz' services were no longer needed.

Both sides were characteristically polite, but it's no secret that Elbaz took a hard knock. He disappeared and spent a year travelling. On his return he was contacted by Lanvin, the latest French label ripe for reinvention.

"I was so happy because I thought that I would never be able to find myself again, and all of a sudden I had a tear in my eye," says Elbaz.

The powers that be at Lanvin, meanwhile, were soon to have dollar signs reflected in theirs.

Elbaz's first collection - all understated, rough-edged tweed skirt-suits worn with battered ballet pumps - met critical acclaim. The second - little silk dresses embellished with jewels trapped in tulle - was worn by Kate Moss, and catapulted Elbaz into the limelight.

Lanvin is now among the most emulated labels, up there with Prada, Balenciaga and Marc Jacobs.

What is remarkable about this designer's impact, however, is the fact that his signature is so determinedly discreet. He makes no grand claims to overturn our conceptions of dress, he has no desire to disrupt our views of what skirt shape we may or may not be wearing, or to what era we should be looking for inspiration.

Instead, these are simply clothes made with what he describes as "emotion".

"Kate Moss can wear it, and someone who is 85 from Washington DC can wear it. It doesn't matter," says Elbaz.

- INDEPENDENT