There is an expression in English, difficult to translate into Spanish, that sums up the character, personality and talent of fashion designer Alber Elbaz: “
larger than life”
.
Larger than life is a way of describing the immensity of a great and deeply generous man, who passed away on Saturday in Paris at the age of 59.
It's never a good time to die, but this seems a particularly inappropriate one for Elbaz. After several years retired from fashion, he had just returned to the industry with his own brand, AZ Factory. A project that he had thought about a lot and that, like everything he did in his career, wanted to be at the service of women and offer them beauty and practicality, while defending a playful and exceptional sense of dress. Deep down, they were the same premises on which he had built almost three decades of success in Lanvin, from where he came out traumatic in 2015. His revolution was one of optimism and joy. Although he designed
ready-to-wear
For one of the oldest couture houses in Paris, his speech was always democratic, fun and approachable.
Perhaps that is why the collaboration he signed with the giant H&M in 2010. And that explains why he managed to make the blazers with rolled up sleeves, the combination of large collars with colored ruffles and the proud display of zippers transcend his own collections. to impact the closets of those who did not even know his name.
A Lanvin show in October 2009, in Paris.Gilles BASSIGNAC / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
The pandemic has truncated the return of one of the most charismatic, admired and influential fashion designers of the first decades of the 21st century.
Chosen by Pierre Bergé as Yves Saint Laurent's natural heir in 1998, few doubted that this Casablanca-born Israeli was also an excellent candidate to succeed Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel.
Since arriving at Lanvin in 2001, his shows have always been exciting and relevant.
There was never a lack of color and food.
Thanks to his affection and closeness, the industry in which he worked was more like a family.
She had a lot of friends in her, and they really were.
PHOTO GALLERY: Alber Elbaz, the designer who brought couture into the 21st century
Everyone wanted to be a part of Alber's world because their loyalty was authentic and meaningful. I know this because I was lucky enough to enjoy it. He was a person you could count on when you needed him. And when not, too. A short message full of hearts served to ensure that everything was in order in moments that he guessed difficult. Once, we traveled together to meet employees of a large fashion company. Sitting on the plane, we planned how to handle the talk. I had prepared some questions and planned to do it in an interview format. He listened to me patiently and shook his head. "No," he said firmly. “Drop all the questions. Tell about you. Tell them about your experience, as a woman and as a journalist. They should listen to you too ”. When we get to the hotel,we locked ourselves in adjoining rooms to write parallel speeches for the next day. I appreciated his generosity, but there was no color between the two accounts. Listening to him, so agile and ingenious, was always much more fascinating.
A fashion show by Alber Elbaz for Lanvin in Paris.AP
He used to say that fashion needed more smiles.
And he, of course, did his part to incorporate humor into a craft with a tendency to drama.
He danced in publicity campaigns, sang
What will be, will be
to celebrate his 10 years at Lanvin and gave moments full of magic to fashionistas.
He liked Spain because he felt that here we share his joyous way of understanding existence.
In 2017, a few months after starting work at
Vogue
Spain, I asked him to visit us to serve as a jury for the Who's On Next award. It was a few days of “emotional celebration” —his description, not mine— in which he shared his experience and knowledge with young Spanish designers, whom he marked forever. Last October, we recorded a conversation for the 2020 edition of the same award, marked by the pandemic. Each of his phrases was pure inspiration and, once again, he moved us all. "Today everyone must support themselves," he said. “The rich must help the poor; doctors to the sick. It is about giving something to others. That's what life is about: giving and receiving. You have to look both ways and ask yourself: 'Who needs us? Who can we help? ' Only in this way can we boost, excite, move forward and be successful ”.
Alber Elbaz has lived as he designed, with intensity, exuberance and a lightness that concealed great complexity.