Mood board: ‘I was thinking about the friends of Madame Lanvin,’ explained Olivier Lapidus at a preview of his second collection for the French maison. ‘I asked myself who are the friends of the house today?’ Lapidus was thinking about creative and technologically savvy women, and arrived at the work of New York-based artist Krista Kim, who uses light photography in her abstract works. The bold colours in her pieces acted as the starting point of the collection, and featured on dégradé plastic blazers, silk satin gowns, and tuxedo trousers. Lapidus was fascinated by technological details, referencing statistical diagrams of Twitter activity and aerial views of landscapes as inspiration, translated into long draped gowns or dresses with undulating ruffles. ‘It was about taking details from the past and twisting them’ he added, of a collection modern in its approach — like a peplum hem dress paired with trousers and a polo neck, a tuxedo jacket with an integrated silk collar, or a bell sleeve dress in satin silk, designed to resemble neoprene.
Best in show: Fashion’s penchant for the logo is showing no signs of decreasing in popularity, and for A/W 2018 Lapidus recreated the Lanvin name using the dots and dashes of Morse code. ‘We created a stripe pattern,’ he explained of the pattern amalgamated into beadwork details and translated into the brand’s catwalk jewellery. The house collaborated with Elie Top on a series of chunky metal torques, cuffs and rings, punctured with the graphic lines of Morse code.
Finishing touches: Lapidus used sportswear codes in his interpretation of today’s Lanvin woman — seen in dégradé shoulder bags with iPhone pockets or leather biker jackets with an insert on the back the size of an iPad. The Lanvin logo was printed on leather, and stitched as a sporty panel onto the sleeve of a gown, and more delicate pieces, like gauzy pleated skirts, were paired with ribbed knit sweaters, scuba divers hoods (an accessories signature of A/W 2018) and bold bum bags.
