Fashion designer Alber Elbaz buried in Israel msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Alber Elbaz: A designer with ‘unbridled creativity’ and warmth
As the industry mourns the loss of fashion designer Alber Elbaz, Drapers takes a look back at his colourful career.
Moroccan-born Alber Elbaz died on Saturday 24 May in Paris, from Covid-19-related complications. He was just 59.
The womenswear designer was at the helm of some of the most prestigious fashion houses in Paris, but his career was not all plain sailing, provoking both high praise and knock-backs at Yves Saint Laurent and Lanvin.
Alber Elbaz
Elbaz studied fashion design at the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design in Ramat Gan, Israel, before moving to New York in 1984. He became an assistant to US men’s and women s wear designer Geoffrey Beene in 1989 and worked with him for seven years until 1996. Beene died in 2004, and his company was bought by PVH in 2017.
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The industry mourns as fashion loses a legend. Tributes from around the globe – fans, collaborators, and peers – all paid homage to Alber Elbaz, the designer who wanted inclusivity and to make women happy with style.
Counting the likes of Meryl Streep, Demi Moore and Nicole Kidman as fans, his untimely death in Paris at 59 from Covid-19 leaves a gap in the industry, usually filled with joy and inspiration, as his recently launched, size-inclusive label AZ Factory was just starting to bloom.
ALBER ELBAZ the most extraordinary, original, kind, talented, GOOD human; amazing fashion designer has been lost to COVID 19.
Alber Elbaz annouced his new label AZ Factory this year, which sought to be size-inclusive and figure flattering. (Corbis/Getty)
Fashion designer Alber Elbaz, who dressed everyone from Michelle Obama to Kim Kardashian, has died from COVID-19 at 59-years old.
Elbaz died in Paris on Saturday (24 April) after having COVID-19 for three weeks. His business partner Johann Rupert confirmed the news, praising Elbaz’s “inclusive vision of fashion [which] made women feel beautiful and comfortable”.
Elbaz was most famous for serving at the helm of Parisian luxury brand Lanvin since 2001, and is widely credited with reviving its fortunes. He took a break from the industry after an acrimonious split with Lanvin in 2015, returning to launch his own label AZ Factory in January 2021.