The falcidie of an annus horribilis continues, which shows no sign of ending. Today is the news of the sudden and unexpected death of Alber Elbaz – it is said due to Covid, but there are no official confirmations: one of the most loved characters in the fashion system, not least for the public person modeled on the gigantic and soft figure of the penguin, between Batman and Charlie Chaplin – the recent fortunes of the outdated bow tie are due to him, who, together with the big glasses, made it the symbol of a tender funny guy look.
He was a man full of humor and charisma, intelligent and sharp, full of determination and vision, but above all a first-rate professional. The notation sounds big, today that anyone thinks they can make clothes, and instead limits themselves to redoing or badly decorating the vintage. On the contrary, Elbaz had an absolute awareness of the body, and the ability to glorify it whatever size it took: a talent, indeed, rare. He should be remembered as the man who loved women. Not all fashion designers, imposing constricting and impossible visions in spite of easy inclusive mantras, it can be said.
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Elbaz, born in Morocco, trained in Tel Aviv, passed from New York with Geoffrey Beene, arrived in Paris with Guy Laroche and Saint-Laurent with a break in Milan from Krizia before Lanvin, where he remained from 2001 to 2015 reviving a historic maison but full of dust, he did not want to force them into uncomfortable, hard clothes; he did not want to subject them to a dry and absurd model of beauty. On the contrary, he accepted them as they are. In fact, he loved to call himself a doctor, and his recipe was feel good dressing. Recently, he had turned it all into a smart and effective project backed by the Richemont group, AZ Factory. With him goes a humorist with a happy hand, a confident colourist, a man capable of creating beauty but free from that foolishly political act that is the phony way of today.