One of the fashion world’s best-known designers, Alber Elbaz, has died of Covid-19 in Paris, aged 59.
Elbaz, credited with restoring the fortunes of the house of Lanvin, was almost certainly the only leading designer to have served in the Israeli army. Moroccan-born, he was brought to Israel with his family when he was 10 years old.
After army service he attended the Shenkar College of Fashion in Tel Aviv and then left to work in New York in the 1980s, spending seven years as senior designer with Geoffrey Beene, a well-known name in American fashion.
In 1996 Ralph Toledano head-hunted Elbaz to be the front-man for Guy Laroche in Paris, a job which he made such a success of that he received “the job offer of a lifetime” — the chance to succeed Yves Saint Laurent at Rive Gauche ready-to wear.
Elbaz worked for other designers such as Krizia in Milan before arriving at Lanvin in 2001, transforming its fortunes to become one of the great names in fashion design.
Notorious for worrying about his weight, Elbaz was a cheerful personality who endeared himself to women by his insistence that designer clothes should be comfortable as well as fashionable. Among his international fans were actresses Meryl Streep and Natalie Portman.
