1889-2014
At the time of this picture of Lanvin in 1925, her couture house was comprised of 23 workshops, and each collection featured 300 designs, including children, women and their daughters and wedding dress. The next year 1926 she received the Knight of the Legion of Honor, France's highs civilian decoration. Lanvin also added a new men's department. | In 2002. Alber Elbaz took the position of creative director for the famous fashion house. He is Israeli born and worked for Geoffrey Beene for seven years before being recruited in 1996 to head Guy Laroche in Paris. After three collections he moved on to Yves Saint Laurent ready-to-wear. He was fired in 2000. The next two years were spent traveling and meeting with CEO's. In 2001, he was hired by Shaw-Lan Wang, the new owner of Lanvin. |
Her 1925 apartment was designed by her in collaboration with Armand-Albert Rateau in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. In these pictures you see her boudoir and bedroom in signature Lanvin blue and her lavish marble bathroom. In 1965, the entire contents was donated to the Les Arts Decoratifs for their Art Nouveau and Art Deco department for a major 1966 retrospective.
Jeanne Lanvin's first fragrance was created in 1924 with a perfumer,named Maria Zede. They named it Niv-Nal (the name forms "Lanvin" backward), In English, it became "My Sin." In 1927, Lanvin introduced Arpege. The French for the musical term "arpeggio," a chord in which the notes are played out separately in sequence, instead of together. It was conceived to celebrate Lanvin's daughter's 30th birthday, a musician who consulted on the scent's concept. Eventually, it would carry the famous tag line, "Promise her anything, but give her Arpege." |
Since arriving at the helm of Lanvin, Alber Elbaz has been systematically ramping up the house's accessories department. The ballerina flats were a result of the need to protect the models feet from pins on the floor during fittings. Elbaz hired jewelry designer Elie Top from Yves Saint Laurent to bring jewelry back to the runway. Today accessories represent 40% of the companies global turnover. The Amalia handbag is unmistakably Lanvin, with the quilted leather, grosgrain ribbon bow and a chain. The handbag will be in the spotlight in the ad campaign to mark the the milestone in the couture house's history. |