The genius designer behind Lanvin, Alber Elbaz, has a unique view on his feelings towards high street stores who copy his catwalk creations. The designer, who previously collaborated with H&M for a lower priced sell-out collection, says he knows that there are many companies who look to the Parisian label for their own products:
"People are protesting about salaries and they can’t afford to buy a home. There are a lot of companies that are taking what we are creating and translating them to the masses. So we cannot be accused of eating cake when the world needs to have bread. Because in our little domain, we create ideas that are being translated by High Street a season, or even an hour, later."
However, Alber is surprisingly supportive of his designs being recreated by companies who will mass produce them, mostly because of his postive experience during the H&M collaboration:
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| Lanvin for H&M |
"I think the fact that we are the source of the High Street fashion is good. A year and a half ago I did a project with H&M, which is something I would never have done before, but I thought it was important. It was about giving something to people that they could not afford, something that they only dreamed about. And it felt good to know that 95 percent of the clothes had sold around the world within four hours."
Alber also speaks on designer rivalry - he says that designers have a family spirit and there is rarely tension between them - he counts several designers as close friends:
Before shows we send each other little cards with congratulations; we send each other flowers. [how cute!] We’re kind of a crazy family, but still a family. There are many designers I really respect and love. I love Azzedine (Alaïa). I like Narciso (Rodriguez) and Marc (Jacobs) and Nicolas (Ghesquiére) from Balenciaga. The first collection Raf Simons did for Dior was gorgeous. I’m not jealous of people—I’m only jealous of people who can eat and not gain weight.
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