ALBER ELBAZ FROM A-Z

I’ve talked with so many women in the past five years and after really listening to them I started to understand,” Alber Elbaz explains via Zoom from his new office in Paris. It’s only a few weeks after his lauded return to fashion with his new venture AZ Factory. “I said to myself that if and when I do it, I will work differently,” he continues, reflecting back on his shock ousting from Lanvin in 2015 at the height of his stellar 14-year tenure as creative director. “So in the five years that I didn’t work, I think I did the best work of my life, because I was so bored,” he smiles. “I realised the boredom was the most essential thing for creativity.”

The first and last letters of his name initial the brand, while the choice of ‘factory’