Beloved fashion legend Alber Elbaz has been pretty quiet since exiting the house of Lanvin last October. But the former creative director — who rewired the oldest French house in operation over his 15-year tenure — does remain quite active on Instagram. Yesterday he alerted his followers to a talk he gave to budding Alber Elbazes at Parsons in New York City on Tuesday night. Taking the stage carrying a brown paper shopping bag in hand, he told the students that the app was a big reason he was even standing in front of them.
“After I posted an Instagram invitation, I read some of the comments, and the comments of one of the girls — I don’t know if she’s here — she said, ‘I’m definitely going to hear Alber.’ She said, ‘Make sure you don’t forget to bring some tissues.’ So I don’t know if you brought some tissues, but I brought some tissues with me just in case.'” Extracting them from the bag, he said it was a trick he learned from his psychiatrist. He then pulled out some bulk packets of candy, bemoaning the lack of “sugar” in fashion these days.
The sweet introduction led into Elbaz opening up about being ousted from the brand he worked so tirelessly to transform. “I still have a huge scar on me,” he said, revealing that he found comfort in Instagram. “I received so many loves and likes. I was so touched — it was hundreds and hundreds of those love messages via Instagram. I decided to join the club. I think is showing the world that Instagram is also a tool to show love to each other.”
He then gave a long-awaited hint about his next potential career move. “I would love very, very much on the one hand to work and to touch this world of high street, because there is this beautiful energy going on,” he said. “And next to it I would love to make [beautiful] clothes for women I love, and I would do it only with people I love,” touching again on how devastated he was to leave Lanvin. One thing we won’t see him doing is taking beach selfies in Tulum. “I don’t like vacation. I hate the sand, I hate, like, the beach, I hate the heat. Work, for me, is vacation.”
Credits
Text Hannah Ongley
Photography Mitchell Sams