It’s been a turbulent few years for Lanvin. Since Alber Elbaz departed his role as Creative Director in 2015 the house has had a succession of creative directors and owners: Olivier Lapidus and Bouchra Jarrar took it in turns to lead their womenswear division, the company was sold to Chinese luxury conglomerate Fosun Fashion Group, and Lucas Ossendrijver left as Creative Director of their menswear line after 14 years. Arguably it never recovered from the loss of Alber Elbaz, who was much loved throughout the fashion industry.
But could the company be about to turn it around? Today Lanvin announced Bruno Sialelli as the new Creative Director for the whole company. Bruno joins from Loewe, where he working under Jonathan Anderson as the label’s Menswear Design Director. He’s also had stints under Nicolas Ghesquière and Alexander Wang at Balenciaga, and at Acne Studios and Paco Rabanne.
In a press release this morning, Lanvin spoke highly of Bruno’s ability to mix menswear and womenswear, and his vision to update the house’s historic codes. “We’re thrilled to welcome Bruno as the new Creative Director of Lanvin,” Jean-Philippe Hecquet, Lanvin’s Chief Executive Officer said. “His singular and very personal vision, his audacity, his culture, his energy and ability to build a strong creative team definitely convinced us. I can’t wait to discover Bruno’s first collections, which will fully bring back to life this beautiful and unique fashion house, and once again inspire a passion among our customers.”
We could get to see Bruno’s new vision for this old house very soon, with Paris Fashion Week just around the corner.