Alber Elbaz

Elbaz was born in Casablanca, Morocco, to a Jewish family. Elbaz's mother, Alegria, was a painter and his father, Meyer, a hairdresser. His family immigrated to Israel when Elbaz was eight months old Elbaz's father died when Albert was a teenager and his mother became a cashier to support her four children—Alber, his brother and his two sisters. Elbaz later enlisted and served as a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, and subsequently studied at the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design in Ramat Gan, Israel. His mother encouraged Elbaz's early interest in fashion, as he had begun drawing dresses at seven years old, and gave him $800 when he left home for New York City in 1985 to pursue fashion professionally. ==Fashion career==

Arriving in New York, Elbaz first worked for a bridal firm, then trained over the course of seven years as a senior assistant to Geoffrey Beene. In New York, Elbaz dropped the last letter of his first name, becoming Alber so that his name would be pronounced correctly in English as well as because he felt it made a better name for a fashion brand. During his 14-year tenure, he was credited with the house's renewed appeal thanks to Elbaz's "classic with a twist" Looking back on his career, ''Women's Wear Daily'' wrote, "His elegant, feminine designs and pulse-pounding runway shows, which had a carnival spirit, catapulted Lanvin to become a top Paris fashion house." Elbaz's simple, feminine clothing, which has been compared to Lanvin's 1920s designs, was lauded by the fashion press. In 2005 Suzy Menkes wrote: "Elbaz is every woman's darling. And that includes Nicole, Kate, Chloë Sevigny, Sofia Coppola and a slew of rising movie names." Lanvin's business growth followed, with revenue increasing 60% in two years, from 2005 to 2007. In 2010, he led Lanvin's work on an H&M line, including tulle dresses and bejeweled necklaces. Notably, for his fall collection in 2012, the house's 10th anniversary, Elbaz chose ordinary people to feature in Lanvin's promotional campaign, including an 18-year-old musician and an 82-year-old retiree. after disagreements with the company's major shareholder, Shaw-Lan Wang. Shortly before he was fired, Elbaz had hired Chemena Kamali from Chloé as women's design director. Thereafter he worked with various fashion brands, including Converse and LeSportsac. In 2016, he launched a perfume called Superstitious, working with perfumer Dominique Ropion for the French perfume house Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle. He collaborated in 2019 with Italian shoemaker Tod's, creating bags and loafers. AZ Factory launched in 2021. It is Richemont's first involvement in a newly emerging brand and focuses on creating streamlined foundational basics and technical knits, which the designer termed "switchwear." ==Art and graphics ==

In 2006, Elbaz introduced new packaging for Lanvin, featuring a light forget-me-not blue color, a favorite shade which Lanvin purportedly had seen in a Fra Angelico fresco. Packaging included shopping bags imprinted with Paul Iribe's 1907 illustration of Lanvin and her daughter Marguerite, and shoe boxes designed like antique library files, tied with black ribbons to emphasize the precious nature of the product. Elbaz illustrated the song "Lady Jane" in singer-songwriter Mika's extended play Songs for Sorrow. In 2012, Rizzoli published a book of 3,000 photographs documenting Elbaz's work for Lanvin. In 2015, Elbaz curated "Alber Elbaz/Lanvin: Manifeste," a photography exhibition at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris. The show exhibited more than 350 photographs taken during his time at Lanvin as well as sketches and design mock-ups. ==Personal life==

Elbaz's life partner since circa 1993 was Alex Koo, Lanvin's director of merchandising. He was months from his 60th birthday. ==Awards==

• 2005 – International Award, Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) • 2007 – One of Times 100 Most Influential People in the World • 2014 – Honorary doctorate awarded by the Royal College of Art • 2015 – Superstar Award, Fashion Group International (FGI) ==See also==