If the past few weeks have proved that seismic change on all fronts is the ‘new normal’, then Lanvin is on the right trajectory. Three head designer changes in as many years is not a good look for any company, yet the venerable 131-year-old fashion house has proved that a spot of judicious shape shifting here and there can do wonders for the old girl’s reputation.
The new shape shifter in question is Bruno Sialelli. In just three short seasons, the Marseille-born, Paris-based designer – a relative unknown when his appointment was announced early last year – is steadily making a name for himself as the designer-in-chief of both mens and womenswear, and is charged with leading the maison in an entirely new streamlined direction.
The 32-year-old has set the bar high; riffing on themes of childhood, travel and escapism with references to Babar the Elephant, the 1905 comic strip of Little Nemo in Slumberland and more recently, Hugo Pratt’s 1960s graphic novel adventurer, Corto Maltese. This season, he uses the artist and designer Erte as inspiration. But, Covid. Ah, yes, Covid. "The sensory side of things – or lack of it – was a total challenge" says Sialelli of his decision to go without a catwalk when global disaster struck. "The whole creative aspect we had to do without". And in its place? A short 60 second burst of film by too-cool-for-school photographer, art director and founder of Self Service magazine, Ezra Petronio – with an ethereal Cocteau Twins soundtrack.
The S/S '21 film further explores his burgeoning interest in quirky locations and illustration. Shot at Le Palais Ideal, an extraordinary piece of ‘naïve art’ architecture by French postman, Ferdinand Cheval, over a period of 33 years at the turn of the 20th century, it became a place of pilgrimage for Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst and Andre Breton. This hypersurreal take on a medieval castle – a bit of Hindu deity and gothic Swiss church mixed with Angkor Wat temples thrown in – functions as a fitting theatrical backdrop to Sialelli’s sharp shouldered yet fluid tailoring. Less whimsy this time round (perhaps a commercial reaction to retail’s current woes) Sialelli pairs his strictly tailored long-line coats and jackets with wide, pastel knee length shorts and pants. With some bold stripes, a silky bomber and some sneakers thrown in for good measure – a nod to his formative Nineties skate-obsessed teenage years – and you have the beginnings of some new house codes. The new normal is working.
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