Natalie Portman, Tilda Swinton, and Julianne Moore are all expected to make appearances at many of this year’s major awards shows, so the odds are, we’re going to be seeing a lot of Lanvin on the red carpet in the coming months.
Alber Elbaz has been with Lanvin for a decade; he’s not only been able to make the brand an A-list favorite, but he’s made the brand a go-to for jewelry and handbags for some of the most influential editors. Fittingly, in the designer’s pre-fall 2011 collection, piled-on jewelry and lush furs were key in tying many of the looks together.
While the collection had some of the draping we’ve come to associate with Lanvin (in particular, shoulder draping on evening wear), casual chic sportswear dominated the collection. Details were added via fabric texture, various fur accents, and layered on necklaces, but most of the looks in the collection retained a clean, sleek feel. We’re excited to see Elbaz branch out in a more casual direction, and there are plenty of long and short day dresses, knit sweaters, and cardigans, to give some of the more famously minimalist designers a run for their money.
One has to wonder, however, just how comfortable the designer is with this more frill-free approach. He told New York magazine that the pre-fall collection didn’t “start from a trip to India. It starts more with needs and desire and dressing women,” which is palpable in his collection. He opted to shoot the collection in his Paris atelier, amidst a variety of animals, including large dogs, cats, and rabbits – turns out nothing is really ever that minimalist with Lanvin.
