After being tantalized by the animated teaser back in January, we finally have the full Lancome by Alber Elbaz collection for you to feast your eyes on.
After being tantalized by the animated teaser back in January, we finally have the full Lancome by Alber Elbaz collection for you to feast your eyes on. And that's just the feature Elbaz wanted to focus on, by dressing up four of the bestselling eye shadow palettes and mascaras from the luxury beauty brand. "The real theme running through the collection is the eyes and roundness forms," Elbaz explains. "The bottles are so fabulously rounded that they were my inspiration. I wanted to create rounded shapes with a hint of humor." The collection hits Lancome counters next month, but you can see everything up close, when you keep clicking!
Before Lanvin creative director Alber Elbaz had even toyed with the idea of collaborating with a cosmetics brand, his fate was sealed. "I knew that eventually Alber would work with a cosmetics company, and so I told him, 'If you do something with someone else, I will kill you,'" Lancome president Youcef S. Nabi, who is a close friend of Elbaz, told W magazine with a laugh. "I really wasn't kidding."
And because of Nabi's persistence, the beauty world will welcome Elbaz's ultra-luxe quad of mascaras on June 15. "Eyes are so important to me," Elbaz said. "When I think of cosmetics, I think of eyes. For Lancome, I wanted to do something funny and a little handmade." Building from these ideas, Elbaz created whimsical cartoon packaging for four of Lancome's mascaras: hearts for Hypnose Doll Lashes, blue stars for Hypnose Star, pink polka dots for Hypnose Drama, and big doe eyes for the classic Définicils. "I'm hoping women will collect all four," Nabi said.
Beyond the line of mascaras, Elbaz is slated to conjure up a set of eye shadow boxes but has no far-reaching plans with Lancome. "We'll do this project and see how it works," Elbaz said. The designer is hesitant about expanding and diluting his brand, which explains why he has never designed a secondary, less expensive line. Partnerships are also a rare affair; he never collaborates unless it makes creative sense.
His collaboration with Lancome, however, will no doubt further prove his love affair with women. "I adore women," said Elbaz, who also appreciates that being a woman today isn't always easy. "Women try to be the best everywhere, and it's impossible. I want my clothes to give women the freedom to just be — I want them to put on my dresses and shine." C'est parfait, non?
When you've been highly influential for as long as Lanvin creative director Alber Elbaz has, your opinion tends to carry some weight. But Elbaz, who spent Monday afternoon on a stage doing a Q&A with Harper's Bazaar editor in chief Glenda Bailey, was as charming and humble as he's been for all of his 20-plus years in the business.
In a wide-ranging conversation about his life and career, Elbaz told Bailey and the assembled audience about his work for Geoffrey Beene — who taught him never to use the word "commercial" — to the fall of John Galliano, and what he thinks is the most dangerous thing facing the fashion industry today. A look at some of his thoughts, here.
Minnie Mouse debuted a gown Alber Elbaz designed for her during a runway show at Disneyland Paris this weekend. [Telegraph]
Shoppers at Vera Wang's Shanghai boutique should be prepared to spend money even if they don't purchase a dress. Customers at the store will be charged a ¥3,000 fee (approximately $482) to try the designer's work on. [Vogue UK]
Kering, the company formerly known as PPR, has acquired France Croco, a luxury tannery which specializes in crocodile skins. [WWD]
Nick Wooster's plan for helping JCPenney become America's favorite department store is simple. "I'm going to get in trouble for saying this," he said during WWD's Menswear Retail Summit, "but [we need to] make cute sh*t." [Racked]
The CFDA and Ebay have tapped over 90 designers, including J. Mendel (left) and Prabal Gurung, to design tote bags for its third "You Can't Fake Fashion" initiative. Look for the totes exclusively online on March 18. [Harper's Bazaar]
Diane von Furstenberg and Andrew Rosen are teaming up to host Open Market, an evening of food, cocktails, and fashion to benefit the Meatpacking District Improvement Association. [Style.com]
The Great Gatsby is set to open the Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off on May 15. [The New York Times]
Simon Doonan attributes his signature sense of humor to his upbringing: "It's a big part of being English — not taking things too seriously, debunking things." [The Business of Fashion]
Elle Macpherson has gotten engaged to longtime boyfriend Jeffrey Soffer. [Page Six]
GQ Deputy Editor Michael Hainey has an affinity for artful prose: "I've always wanted to be a poet. That's how I started writing," he said. "Poetry teaches you to sort of crystallize your thinking." [MR PORTER]
Jenna Lyons has 289 pairs of shoes — or as she refers to them: shiny ponies. [POPSUGAR Style & Trends]
Disneyland Paris will hold a fashion show to celebrate its 20th anniversary later this month, featuring designs from the likes of Alber Elbaz and Philip Treacy. [Vogue UK]
For Lanvin's Fall 2013 collection, designer Alber Elbaz turned out ladylike silhouettes in dark, romantic shades, along with surprising accents like insects and flowers.
For Lanvin's Fall 2013 collection, designer Alber Elbaz turned out ladylike silhouettes in dark, romantic shades, along with surprising accents like insects and flowers. Highlights included chain-link necklaces that read "HAPPY" and "HELP," gorgeous floral prints, and a few ruffles we can't live without. To see every look right off the runway, watch our video now!
Alber Elbaz staged his Fall 2013 collection at his usual venue — the École des Beaux-Arts — on Thursday in Paris. Filled with frocks printed with jumbo florals, slouchy suits, and party dresses so ruffled with organza tiers they resembled mille-feuille, this was a collection that walked the delicate line between masculine and feminine with perfect ease. Belted utility jackets in leather and wool looked superchic when paired with flirty A-line skirts, while jewel-tone shift dresses embellished with jumbo dragonfly gems added plenty of Elbaz's signature playful cool.
Staged at the École des Beaux-Arts, the Lanvin Fall '13 collection proved just as feminine, expertly tailored, and over the top (tastefully so) as the season before.
Staged at the École des Beaux-Arts, the Lanvin Fall '13 collection proved just as feminine, expertly tailored, and over the top (tastefully so) as the season before. Translation: we want it all. Attendees were served champagne and popcorn as they waited for the show to start, and once it did, Alber Elbaz sent out looks defined by ladylike silhouettes — cast in dark navy blue, black, icy pearl, and muted rust hues — and eye-catching accents. In addition to those highlights, it was all about the full skirt, too. Whether they came down the runway traditionally voluminous, tiered with ruffles, or pinned with asymmetrical folds, there was a definite turn to all-out glamour for day and night. Silky dresses, cropped trousers, and belted outerwear, which provided gorgeous nipped-waist shapes, were also part of the every-styling-sensibility formula that made this collection both relatable and fantastical. As for the finishing touches? Bejeweled belts, sumptuous fur stoles, leather opera gloves, chain-link necklaces that read "HAPPY" and "HELP," glitter ankle-strap pumps, flat brogues, and the house's signature floral prints rounded out the undeniably beautiful Fall '13 show. See everything here.
Revealed: exactly one sketch from the Ralph Lauren Fall 2013 collection. [Facebook]
Alber Elbaz will design a custom gown for Minnie Mouse to wear to Disneyland Paris's 20th Anniversary celebrations. [Vogue UK]
Erin Fetherston decided not to present this season in order to prepare for her upcoming wedding to Cobra Starship singer Gabe Saporta. [New York Post]
Nicholas Kirkwood will collaborate with Selfridges on a four-style capsule collection of shoes inspired by the film Oz The Great and Powerful. [Vogue UK]
Prabal Gurung's collaboration with Target has been named a smash success; it almost entirely sold out in just one day. [Business Insider]
Michelle McCool has left Cosmopolitan after 10 years as fashion director at the magazine. [WWD]
An actual maelstrom kept Alber Elbaz from participating in Lanvin's Spring 2013 campaign shoot, so he joined in on all the fun via Skype.
Hurricane Sandy and back-to-back fittings in Paris kept Elbaz from flying to New York when Steven Meisel shot the ads, according toWWD. So the creative director made a video call to oversee the proceedings that pops up in the middle of the campaign film. "It's almost like being in New York without flying," he says, later adding that "the perspective is just sick."
Sick indeed — Meisel created a dreamy landscape (with models including Karlie Kloss, Saskia de Brauw, and Daria Strokous) so beautiful that even Elbaz couldn't help but ooh and aah over the pictures. "It's divine," he says. "I feel I'm in a dream. I feel I'm in a cloud." A look at the beautiful cloud below.
