French luxury fashion house Lanvin has seen some turbulent changes in recent years. In 2015, it dismissed successful fashion designer Albert Elbaz, who had worked as the creative director for fourteen long years, and replaced him with French fashion designer Bouchra Jarrar. However, she didn’t last long in the position either, and was succeeded this July by Olivier Lapidus, giving him only 2 months to prepare the S/S 2018 collection.
Elegant simplicity, classic black and clean feminine lines – this is the luxurious S/S 2018 collection. But the touch of sophistication and playful creativity, which makes Lanvin a highly-sought, unique and relevant brand, we found to be missing in the collection. We do appreciate the diversity of various lengths and unusual pieces. There are cocktail dresses, short coats, jumpsuits and luxurious stylish tuxedoes. Another interesting idea are peep-toe gladiator shoes.
In the past, Olivier Lapidus worked for Balmain Homme and now operates his own luxury brand Creation Olivier Lapidus, which is labelled e-couture. The brand creates embellished tailoring, which is ready in 12 weeks and can be ordered online. Unlike his predecessor Bouchra Jarrar, Olivier Lapidus does not intent do give up his company with the new position: “My house will remain entirely exclusive – it is no problem creating small collections of eight items alongside my work for Lanvin. My little fashion house is cutting-edge and experimental.”
President of Lanvin, Shaw-Lan Wang, welcomed Olivier Lapidus with open arms. In her opinion, his creative capacity correlates precisely to the elegance embodied by Jeanne Lanvin. We are curious to see whether Olivier Lapidus decides to replace luxurious elegant simplicity with playful creativeness in the next collection, or whether he decides to give the brand a new look.
The Lanvin brand has always in fact represented invisibility for me. Apart from a few nice perfumes, I find this brand absolutely boring and uninteresting. That was also confirmed in the S/S 2018 collection under the guidance of the new designer Olivier Lapidus. Despite the fact that he had only two months to create this collection, it just PUTS YOU TO SLEEP.
I’m sorry, but designing a dress which looks like a long black t-shirt with no real style at all is, simply put, a catastrophe. Lanvin charges € 1,500 for something like that? That must be a bad joke!
I only like one thing in the whole collection and that is only by turning a blind eye, because it really reminds me of the ready-to-wear clothing in Zara (where they don’t however charge such exorbitant prices). Black shorts with a slightly see-through blouse with wide sleeves, white strap shoes and a handbag in Egyptian blue. Simply put, a universal ensemble which suits any place and any occasion.