45 Fashion Houses Unite in Touching Tribute to Alber Elbaz

The spring 2022 grand final doubled as a reminder that the industry’s love for Alber Elbaz, who was only 59 when he died of Covid-19 in April, knows no bounds. On Tuesday, the last day of Paris Fashion Week, no less than 45 of the industry’s top houses and designers put aside the competition and came together on the runway, paying homage to their late colleague by putting on a show called Love Brings Love. Participants included Raf Simons, Jean Paul Gaultier, Rick Owens, Virgil Abloh, Christopher John Rogers, and just to name a few. All big House was there, thanks to Guccis Alessandro Michele, Fendis Kim Jones, Balmains Olivier Rousteing, Louis Vuittons Nicolas Ghesquire, Burberrys Riccardo Tisci, and Diors Maria Grazia Chiuri. Many were also seen in the front row, alongside French First Lady Brigitte Macron and longtime admirer Demi Moore (who brought his daughter, Scout Willis with him). In fact, the industry was out in full force so by the time everyone sat down, the show was over an hour late.

The first to appear on the catwalks was Adut Akech, who took the lead in a black dress by Elbazs’ own AZ Factory, which has continued to operate since the designers died prematurely. From there came riff after riff of what Elbaz defined as his hallmark during his illustrious tenure at Lanvin, where he was creative director from 2001 to 2015. As far as live streaming viewers are concerned, no one understands the task like Donatella Versace, who instills sensitivity. Elbaz with hers by presenting a hot pink mini dress with statement shoulders. Meanwhile, Dries Van Noten printed one of Elbaz’s self-portraits on a bright red coat, and Viktor & Rolf revived their heart-laden couture 2020 design.

Others paid homage to Elbaz’s personal style: Saint Laurents Anthony Vaccarello wore Anja Rubik in Elbaz’s unofficial uniform with a black suit, white buttons and fuchsia bow tie. Comme des Garonss Rei Kawakubo also gives a shout out to the bow tie, in the form of a hair band over the heads of many Minnie Mouse prints. No one looks more like Elbaz than supermodel Amber Valletta, who even uses the body language of the late designer to cover the designer portion of the evening’s guests. Wearing a loose black coat embroidered with the sequin motif of an earlier Elbaz design, she smiled, bowed, and made way for the final procession.

This may be the best of the designers, but none of them can be the best Elbaz team on their own. The series of AZ Factory appearances that followed proved that as long as they existed, the Elbaz designs would live on. The same goes for his positive struggles in the industry. They ended the tribute in a very Elbaz-like fashion by turning it into a celebration. Hot pink confetti fell from the ceiling as the Love Train boomed through the speakers and the models danced. Skip to the 49 minute mark to see for yourself, below.