In 1961, Alber Elbaz, an Israeli citizen, was born in
Casablanca,
Morocco.
In 1971, when he was 10 years old, Alber, two brothers, two sisters and their
Jewish parents immigrated to
Israel from Morocco.
In 1982-1986, after mandatory military service in the Israeli Defence Forces, he studied at the
Shenkar College of Engineering and Design (as it is known today) in
Ramat Gan, near
Tel Aviv, Israel.
In 1987, he moved to
New York City, worked for two years for a manufacturer of mother-of-the-bride clothing. Eventually, he went on to work for
Geoffrey Beene for seven years. He claims to have benefited appreciably from his time with Beene, influenced by Beene's rejection of trends and masterful drape and fit. "It was a very beautiful relationship... Our best dialogue was not in words," Elbaz has reminisced.
In 1997, Elbaz left Beene and, through retailer Dawn Mello, was hired by the firm of
Guy Laroche. But, by the time of Elbaz's arrival, the Laroche enterprise had become overly conservative and lackluster. Even so, Elbaz was able to update the collection and somewhat enhance the image of the firm, whose activities at the time included the management of 15 boutiques and 70 license agreements worldwide. However, he departed within a year.
In 1998, he began designing
ready-to-wear women's clothing for
Yves Saint-Laurent, because Saint-Laurent himself wished to withdraw from his hands-on design of prêt-à-porter. In the position, Elbaz's talent was recognized, and he would have become the head designer of the house when Saint-Larent retired.
However, this was not to happen because the
Gucci Group purchased YSL Rive Gauche, the ready-to-wear label, and, hence, Gucci design director
Tom Ford dismissed Elbaz after 3 collections.Elbaz then began working for Krizia in Italy and designed a well-received inaugural collection, but the circumstances were not to his liking.
In August 2001, the company had been purchased by investor group Harmonie S.A., led by Mrs. Shaw-Lan Wang, a Taiwanese media magnate, who hired Elbaz. In Juen 2005, he gained the International Award, Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).
In October 2001, after Krizia, he was appointed artistic director of Lanvin in Paris. Lanvin is the oldest extant fashion house worldwide, having been founded by
Jeanne Lanvin, who began making dresses in 1909 and millinery earlier.
In 2006, Elbaz introduced new packaging for the fashion house, featuring a light forget-me-not blue color, a favorite shade which Lanvin purportedly had seen in a Fra Angelico fresco. There are shopping bags, imprinted with Paul Iribe's 1907 illustration of Lanvin and her daughter Marguerite, and new shoe boxes much like antique library files, tied with black ribbons, to emphasize the precious nature of the product.
Owing partially to the influence of Beene, Elbaz's wearable, simple and feminine clothing—similar to the sporty, casual character of Lanvin's 1920s outfits—has become embraced by the fashion press. "... Elbaz is every woman's darling. And that includes Nicole Kidman, Kate Moss, Chloé Sevigny, Sofia Coppola and a slew of rising movie names" (Suzy Menkes, International Herald Tribune, May 24, 2005).
In January 25th 2007 , Elbaz gained the Named Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur, Paris. Also he was listed among
Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World.
On
October 7,
2007 Alber Elbaz received a standing ovation for his Spring-Summer 2008 collection for Lanvin.
Alber Elbaz By Natalie Portman from TIME magazine.
