Everyone Has an Alber Elbaz Story
Remembering fashion’s kindest designer.
The Vogue editor Anna Wintour congratulated Alber Elbaz after he was awarded the French Officier de la Legion d'Honneur in 2016.Credit...Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York Times
April 27, 2021Updated 12:03 p.m. ET
About eight or 10 years ago, back when Alber Elbaz, the Moroccan-born Israeli designer who died on Saturday in Paris at age 59, was still happily ensconced as creative director of Lanvin, I bought a runway sample from the label. It was a gold flapper-like dress I adored, but it was entirely out of my price range unless I bought it used.