Albert Alnaz is in a time bubble of runway fashion extraordinaire. As a designer, his benevolence reaches new heights with each years. It seems as though he cannot fail judging by the recent 4-5 Lanvin collection that graces the catwalk during Paris fashion week – they have all been expressions of high fashion in its purest and most compelling form.
Unlike many prestigious design houses like Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani and Prada, Lanvin has little mainstream appeal. The average consumer on the street enjoys status and has a healthy appetite for clothes easily recognised by others. Symbolism is therefore an apparent and important appeal of designer clothes. Well renowned monograms and logos are powerful in triggering spending happiness in consumers who would otherwise not considered parting ways with a few hundred sterling pounds for a Gucci monogram weekend bag if it didn’t have a double G monogram across the canvas. Lanvin stores are houses of no recognisable symbols or labels that would imprint themselves into the heads of consumers wishing for signs that over and over remind them of what designer label they are getting involved with. Discretion is a paramount element of Lanvin’s identity and this is further enforced by the location of Lanvin boutiques. Away from vicinity of comparable brands lined up on famous shopping boulevard destinations like Champ Elysee, Rhodeo Drive, Bond Street and Madison Avenue, London´s Lanvin boutique is cloaked in a residential Mayfair district on Mount street which is incoincidentally where Marc Jacobs set up his London Store, next to a restaurant where Michelle Obama unexpectedly stopped by for meal last month.
New Yorkers similarly face an adventurous quest in finding Marc Jacobs store in London positioned down town in West Village where tourists and non-faithful MJ fans would not bother to explore or find by simply paying a visit to the MJ website. On the other side of the double edged sword MJ has specialty stores selling accessories and memorabilia at prices that would lead to a powerful surge in sales if the whereabouts of the locations got out to the wider population – a valiant concept that would get no support by most premium corporations. Ideally, top designers want to pursue Lanvin’s on-way-street of limited availability and high exclusivity and luxury.
And sure is the Spring Summer 2010 collection luxurious. Soft and silky materials ensure a comforting and tender summer fit. The emphasis on the waistline evokes timorous for those who are embracement over their physical state, but spring 2010 is 8 months away leaving ample time to shave body mass down to a 30-31 size in waist line. Universally accepted designs are regimental ties and double breasted blazers in shiny blue, red and white stripes, which are more masculine than the proposed Marie Antoinette waistlines.
Due to the low presence of logos, eyes are left to focus their attention on the clothes – rather than blindly falling in love with logo embroided using a silk thread. The source of Alnaz’s well deserved respect and admiration is his casual non-pompous approach to designing clothes for men. All his runway presentations have a colourful character with an inviting appeal. Lacking in intimidation to ones financial self-confidence, he’s a non-stereotypical designer with a marvellous vision for what can be described as one of the top three most assuring labels for men. This raises question surrounding the purpose of the fake moustache. Not that it’s taints the splendour of the collection but it is a draft and distracting element which the collection could have done without. Warmly welcomed is the return of the visors which are not only come in alluringly handsome prints but also appearing to be hand-tied. A clever solution compared with a elastic band that has the potential or ruining your hair when putting on and taking off the visor. Much else of what’s seen eke of ease and the collection is bridled with loose fitting pieces made out of soft materials that flow masterfully with wind.