That lovable kook Alber Elbaz is back, giving interviews to Paper and New York about his latest collection and his Internet-reading habits. I’ve taken the liberty of compiling some of his bonniest bons mots for your reading pleasure.
On Technology
“I see Internets every morning — I don’t have an e-mail address and, you know, I don’t do Internet, but every morning my boyfriend, Alex, makes me coffee and we watch these images.”
“It’s not that I don’t like technology. My brain just doesn’t capture it. I cannot drive, I cannot bike, nor do email. My boyfriend of 18 years thinks I stayed with him all these years because he helps me with the remote control.”
On Fame
“We’ve created a new job in our world lately, which is called ‘being famous.’ Fame today is not a result of something you’ve done. It’s a new profession. ‘What do you do for a living?’ ‘I’m famous.’ Imagine asking a kid, “What does your dad do?’ ‘Oh, my dad is famous.’ Fame is becoming very, very important. I mean, everyone wants to be famous, basically.”
“I’d rather be relevant than cool.”
On Men And Women And Choices
“When some women tell me that they are so into their careers that they’re living in an airport, I’m like, ‘Fabulous, go for it.’ Then other women tell me, “I have a baby and I want to stay home for two years,” and I’m like, ‘Fabulous!'”
“I think that women have gotten stronger. I’m not talking about more powerful — there is a big difference between power and strength. I think men are powerful, I think women are strong. When you are powerful, you buy, you sell, you have it, you lose it, it’s external; and I think that strength comes from a different place. It’s internal.”
On Food Metaphors
“I can do only things that I love and I can do it only with people that I love. I don’t need much, but without these ingredients I cannot cook. Actually, I feel that I am working more in a kitchen than in a living room.”
“I also like to make roasted chicken… there is nothing intellectual about what I do for a living. I think the biggest danger today in fashion is that people think we are in show business. But it’s not show business. We are dressmakers and coat makers, and we have to be here to cater to people and help them look and feel good.”
“If it’s not edible, it’s not food. If it’s not wearable, it’s not fashion.”
On Money
“Every contract I’ve ever signed has gone into defining my freedom within my work. I’m not so much into money, which is why I’m not a rich man.”
“Doing a collection, for me, is almost like creating a vaccine. Once you create the vaccine, then you can duplicate it for nine dollars and ninety-nine cents. But see if you can create it for nine dollars and ninety-nine cents, and the answer is no.”
On Life
“I think it’s all very simple and clear and rounded. Life is actually more rounded than linear. Most people think that life is linear, but I believe that life is round.”
“Everything I do, I learned from Mr. [Geoffrey] Beene. The most important thing that he made me understand was that fashion is not about front and back, but it’s about what’s in between. I think that also life is not about front and back, it’s what’s in between.”
Guru: Alber Elbaz [Paper]
Alber Elbaz Doesn’t Have E-mail, But His Pre-Fall Collection for Lanvin Was Born From the Internet [The Cut]
They Said It: 2010 [WWD]
Earlier:
Lanvin Designer Feels Overweight, Makes Others Feel Beautiful [NSFW]