Richemont mourns death of designer Alber Elbaz

Alber Elbaz in 2012 Keystone / Francois Mori

Swiss luxury fashion company Richemont has confirmed the death of designer Alber Elbaz, saying the former creative director at French fashion house Lanvin had died from Covid-19. He was 59.

Elbaz, who was known for his work at fashion house Lanvin from 2001 to 2015, died on Saturday in Paris. Among his creations were the dress worn by Meryl Streep when she accepted her Oscar for Best Actress in 2012 for The Iron Lady.

Since 2019 he had been working on a fashion joint venture with Richemont called AZ Factory, a company aimed at producing smart women’s fashion by blending traditional craftsmanship with technology.

“It was with shock and enormous sadness that I heard of Alber’s sudden passing,” said Richemont chairman Johann Rupert, who described Elbaz as a beloved friend.

Elbaz was born in Morocco and raised in Israel from the age of one. He launched his fashion career in 1985, working in New York with designer Geoffrey Beene.

In 1996 he became the design director at Guy Laroche in Paris, before joining Yves Saint Laurent as creative director of its ready-to-wear brand Rive Gauche. In 2001, he joined Lanvin, where he earned critical and commercial success based on his principle of putting women first.

“It was just about giving ease to women,” he said of his dresses with industrial zips and raw edges, two of the hallmarks he established for Lanvin.