Lanvin celebrates the last decade of fashion

PARIS - The Associated Press

Designer Alber Elbaz performs during the Lanvin Ready-To-Wear Fall/Winter show. AFP photo

“Dreams, history and the past,” Alber Elbaz said of his extravaganza fall-winter ready-to-wear show that celebrated and retraced his 10-year journey as creative director of Lanvin.

Every inch of the couture, ruffles and shimmer that revitalized the house over the last few years was on display Friday, including reinterpretations of 1960s vintage pieces from the iconic archives.

Celebrities, like singer Mika and actress Tilda Swinton sat in the front row, behind whom some 2,000 revelers applauded exquisite cocktail gowns that included patches of the Art Deco fur of Jeanne Lanvin’s 1920s heyday. Spotlighting dappled the colors of scuba-like neoprene dresses with peplums and inflated arms in canary yellow, emerald green and royal blue. Reading like a Lanvin fashion encyclopedia, the theme switched to a leather-infused take on sportswear jackets with a dazzling array of reworked parkas, perfectos and bombers. The next chapter revisited archive pieces such as a duchesse satin insert replicated from the 1960s on a black and gold brocade gown.