Alber Elbaz

Alber Elbaz

Alber Elbaz is a fashion designer who was born in 1961 in Casablanca, a populous city in Morocco. At the age of ten, he immigrated to Israel along with his family members and was raised in Holon. After completing his services in the Israeli Defence Forces, Elbaz studied at Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, located in Ramat Gan. Alex Koo is his life partner as well as the marketing director at Elbaz’s company.

In 1985, he moved to the fashion city New York. Elbaz stayed there for two years doing a job for a bridal wear manufacturer. After this, he worked for seven years with Geoffrey Beene. In 1997, when he left this place, Elbaz was hired by Guy Laroche via Dawn Mello (retailer). By the time Elbaz began working, the Laroche’s firm had became lackluster and conservative. Hence, the designer rejuvenated the image and updated the collection of the enterprise. In a year’s time, Elbaz left the place and moved to Yves Saint Laurent to design their womenswear. When Laurent retired, Elbaz was to become the design director but the Gucci Group took over and Tom Ford snatched Elbaz’s future position. Alber Elbaz then began working for Krizia in Italy.

Elbaz became the art director at Lanvin in 2001. After five years when the company was bought by Harmonie S.A., Elbaz remained and produced new shopping bags and shoe boxes for the label led by Shaw Lan Wang. In addition to this, he illustrated Lady Jane a song by Mika. In 2012, he published a collection of three thousand photographs in a book that documented his time at Lanvin.

Elbaz won Council of Fashion Designers of America International Award in 2005. Two years later he won the Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur in Paris. In 2007, he was ranked among the hundred most influential people in the world by Time magazine.

Alber Elbaz attained his knowledge of art and colors from his parents. His father was a colorist and mother used to paint. Hence, they both worked with hues and this talent run in the veins of Elbaz as well. He personally doesn’t like the concept of working within the limitation of seasons. He feels that any color is as beautiful in one season as it is in another.

Elbaz likes residing in Paris, however his preferences depend on the kind of people in a place. With this ideology, he likes any place where people are the way Elbaz expects them to be. For instance, he detests Los Angeles but he met a group of amazing people there. Whenever the designer is travelling around the world, he never focuses on the geography except the galleries and museums. He loves to socialize and feels miserable if the place is good and the people are not.

The work environment that Alber Elbaz creates is friendly. At his studio, everybody eats food together. He believes that when people share something more than work, relationships get closer and deeper. He encourages interns to go and purchase food for everyone so that not only do they get to know Paris and its language but also explains them the importance of eating together, sharing and working as a team.