On Wednesday, news broke that after 14 years with Lanvin, Alber Elbaz and the brand would be going their separate ways. He was one of the longest tenured creative directors in the business and a beloved figure. Since that news hit, some more details regarding the transaction have to come to light. Namely that Lanvin's majority owner, Shaw-Lan Wang, was the primary force that pushed him out. This wasn't simply Elbaz saying "Peace. I'd rather do other things," like Raf did.
Now, according to WWD, Elbaz's employees at Lanvin are taking major issue with the decision to remove him from the company. They're demanding that Wang, who lives in Taiwan, return to Paris to address their concerns and talk about the situation. More than anything else, they want her to reinstate Elbaz into his previous position. Employees may even seek recourse through the courts. At Lanvin HQ, employees are said to have chanted "Alber, Alber, Alber" once they heard the news that he would no longer be with the brand. Now, those are the types of people you want working for you. It's clear that Elbaz was a stalwart and just as he loved the brand, it loved him back. Seems to be a fucking mess over there in Paris. Who knows what's next.
