Category: Accessories

Alber Elbaz, the designer best known for his spectacular rejuvenation of Lanvin from 2001 to 2015, died on Saturday at a Paris hospital. He was 59.
His death, due to COVID-19, was confirmed by Compagnie Financière Richemont, his joint venture partner in AZ Factory, his latest fashion venture.
An ebullient character prized for his couture-like craft, Elbaz took a five-year hiatus after being ousted from Lanvin and just launched AZ Factory, hinged on solutions-driven fashions, entertainment and tech.
While his name was not on the label, the start-up was steeped in Elbaz’s personality, humor, and his inimitable flair for soigné fashions.
“I have lost not only a colleague but a beloved friend,” Richemont founder and chairman Johann Rupert said in a statement, expressing his shock and sadness at Elbaz’s sudden passing.
“Alber had a richly deserved reputation as one of the industry’s brightest and most beloved figures. I was always taken by his intelligence, sensitivity, generosity and unbridled creativity,” Rupert said. “He was a man of exceptional warmth and talent, and his singular vision, sense of beauty and empathy leave an indelible impression.
“It was a great privilege watching Alber in his last endeavor as he worked to realize his dream of ‘smart fashion that cares.’

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Alber Elbaz often said fashion is about storytelling — and he could talk up a storm.
From Seventh Avenue fashion-speak to deep thoughts about clothes, he dispensed plenty of wisdom over a storied fashion career.
Here, some of his most memorable quotes from WWD:
ON FASHION’S IMPORTANCE: “My conclusion today is that fashion is very important, today maybe more than ever, because we fashion designers maybe have a role. We have the duty to bring beauty to the world, to make women feel better, to make women feel good, to uplift them. Today, I was at Barneys [New York] for a couple of hours — we had a trunk show. There was this woman I was helping, and she told me at the end of this little rendezvous we had, ‘I am going to be broke, but I am happy.’ I think this is the whole idea of what fashion is going to do today, and I am saying that, when everything is crashing, maybe it’s not a bad idea to invest in a good dress.” (2008)
ON COLLABORATION: “I know the worst enemy of many designers is the CEO. I think that, in a way, the most frustrating CEO will tell me that

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Women are continuing to add interest to fashion at a time when consumers are craving to get beyond the commonplace.
In honor of Women’s History Month, WWD is celebrating women-owned innovative fashion brands making names for themselves in the space.
From Areeayl Goodwin’s Beads by Aree, which makes jewelry for the whimsical bohemian that lives inside each of us, to Pattaraphan, which fuses edginess and androgyny to design strong pieces for a discerning customer, here are six women-owned fashion brands to watch.   
Brand name: Michel Men
Year founded: 2017
Design aesthetic: The New Americana: modern, minimalist approach to traditional American men’s wear.
Customer: Bold and stylish men who live by a uniform.
Whitney Michel is a first-generation Haitian American born in Brooklyn, N.Y., who designs luxurious men’s accessories such as bandanas, socks and neckwear for the everyday man. Michel has just dropped a collaboration with The Tie Bar curated by Jim Moore of GQ magazine, who is Michel’s mentor.

A look from Michel Men. 
Courtesy of Michel Men

Socks from Michel Men. 
Courtesy of Michel Men

Brand name: Sabrina Ol
Year founded: 2020
Design aesthetic: Concept-oriented streetwear.
Customer: Women/men/nonbinary 25- to 35-year-old customer.
Born and raised in Mexico City, Sabrina Olivera is a Brooklyn-based fashion designer. Throughout Olivera’s life she has been fascinated by the

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