This Is What Alber Elbaz Has To Say About Leaving Lanvin

Lanvin and Alber Elbaz himself have confirmed his departure from the company, ​​Business of Fashion reports. 

Last night, BoF published a full statement from Elbaz, who said his exit is based on a decision made by Lanvin owner Shaw-Lan ​Wang:​

"At this time of my departure from Lanvin on the decision of the company's majority shareholder, I wish to express my gratitude and warm thoughts to all those who have worked with me passionately on the revival of Lanvin over the last 14 years; express my affection to all my wonderful colleagues in the Lanvin ateliers who accompanies me, and who enriched and supported my work. Together we have met the creative challenge presented by Lanvin and have restored its radiance and have returned it to its rightful position among France's absolute luxury fashion houses.

"I also wish to express my profound and deepest gratitude to all of the clients and friends, to the French and international press and to all those business partners who collaborated with Lanvin, providing us with support since 2001."

"I wish the house of Lanvin the future it deserves among the best French luxury brands, and hope that it finds the business vision it needs to engage in the right way forward."​

Lanvin's official Instagram account shared the below image this morning:

Just six days ago, Raf Simons announced his departure from Dior after three and a half years. ​WWD ​predicts Elbaz's exit could encourage rumors that he will succeed Simons at Dior.

Elbaz is an alum of New York designer Geoffrey Beene as well as Guy Laroche and Yves Saint Laurent, where he designed ready-to-wear for three seasons. After a short stint at Krizia in Italy and a year-long hiatus, he took over at Lanvin in 2001. In addition to his role as artistic director at Lanvin, Elbaz also holds an ownership stake in the company, controlled by ​owner Shaw-Lan ​Wang.

Last week, Elbaz received ​the Superstar award at Fashion Group International's Night of the Stars, where he spoke about the pressures of being a creative director in the fashion industry:

​We designers started as couturiers with dreams, with intuitions and with feelings. We started with,'What do women want? What do women need? What can I do for women to make their lives better and easier? How can I make a woman more beautiful?' That is what we used to do," he said. "Then we became creative directors, so we have to create, but mostly direct. And now we have to become image-makers, making sure it looks good in the pictures. The screen has to scream baby — that's the rule. And loudness is the new thing. Loudness is the new cool, and not only in fashion. I prefer whispering. I think it goes deeper and lasts longer.

From: HarpersBazaar.com