After a year of in person worldwide fashion week shows being cancelled due to the global pandemic, Paris Fashion Week’s grand finale was special as the closing show was AZ Factory’s “Love Brings Love.” The show paid homage to the late Israeli Fashion Designer Alber Elbaz’s creative vision and the unconditional love he obtained for the fashion community, in a synergetic runway show that grouped 45 houses and designers.
Elbaz was born in Morocco, and was raised and educated in Israel prior to moving to New York in the 1980’s. His recognition came about after being recruited by Ralph Toledano to helm Guy Laroche in Paris in 1996, before becoming the head of ready-to-wear for Yves Saint Laurent.
Most importantly, he was known for his revival of Lanvin throughout his time serving as Creative Director of the French fashion house from 2001 till 2015. In 2019, the prominent fashion designer decided to pave his own path as he announced his launching of his own label, AZ Factory (originally called AZ Fashion), which is a partnership with luxury conglomerate Richemont that owns brands such as Azzedine Alaïa, Cartier and Chloé as well. The brand’s name was changed to AZ Factory during the global pandemic as a tribute to the industry’s factories which served as places to produce face masks, sanitizers, and PPE. As his mantra was always Love Brings Love, Elbaz’s purpose in creating AZ Factory was to cultivate a fashion reboot that would provide care with an emphasis on love, trust and respect.
With Elbaz’s passing in April 2021 due to COVID-19, Paris Fashion Week’s closing show was historic as “Love Brings Love” brought the designer’s biggest dream to life. The concept of this show was exhilarated by a 1945 Parisian exhibition that gathered over sixty French couturiers as an alluring expression of creativity, prestige, and solidarity in the vigil of World War II. Intrigued by this uplifting story, Elbaz imagined uniting his extended fashion family for a fresh, avant-garde emphasis of its own.
Elbaz was inspired by Théâtre de la Mode, the 1945 Parisian exhibition that brought together French couturiers as a beautiful expression of love and solidarity. The show opened with the designer’s own signature design from AZ Factory – the MyBody little black dress which delivers cutting edge knitwear technology to another level of couture.
The following looks arrived from each participating house, which contained their own personal touch to Elbaz’s legacy, all the way from ready-to-wear to couture. To conclude, the AZ Factory design studio presented their own tribute to their esteemed founder with 25 looks.
“Tonight’s celebration for our dear Alber was a magical moment – talent celebrating talent is a remarkable tribute to the man we all loved so much,” said Laurent Malecaze, CEO of AZ Factory. “We are very humbled by the extraordinary support from all those who participated in the making of the show, and to all those who were able to join us for this historic night.”
In order to make “Love Brings Love” happen, AZ Factory sought assistance from Elbaz’s closest collaborators from his numerous adventures in the fashion world. Fashion houses and designers that participated in “Love brings Love” listed here:
ALAÏA – Pieter Mulier, ALEXANDER MCQUEEN – Sarah Burton, BALENCIAGA – Demna Gvasalia, BALMAIN – Olivier Rousteing, BOTTEGA VENETA – Daniel Lee, BURBERRY – Riccardo Tisci, CASABLANCA – Charaf Tajer, CHLOE – Gabriela Hearst, CHRISTIAN DIOR – Maria Grazia Chiuri, CHRISTOPHER JOHN ROGERS – Christopher John Rogers, COMME DES GARÇONS – Rei Kawakubo, DRIES VAN NOTEN – Dries Van Noten, FENDI – Kim Jones, GIAMBATTISTA VALLI – Giambattista Valli, GIORGIO ARMANI – Giorgio Armani, GIVENCHY – Matthew M. Williams, GUCCI – Alessandro Michele, GUO PEI – Guo Pei, HERMES – Nadège Vanhée-Cybulski, IRIS VAN HERPEN in collaboration with ADOBE – Iris Van Herpen, JEAN PAUL GAULTIER – Jean Paul Gaultier, LANVIN – Bruno Sialelli, LOEWE
– Jonathan Anderson, LOUIS VUITTON – Nicolas Ghesquière, MAISON MARGIELA – John Galliano, OFF-WHITE – Virgil Abloh, RAF SIMONS – Raf Simons, RALPH LAUREN – Ralph Lauren, RICK OWENS – Rick Owens, ROSIE ASSOULIN – Rosie Assoulin, SACAI – Chitose Abe, SAINT LAURENT – Anthony Vaccarello, SCHIAPARELLI – Daniel Roseberry, SIMONE ROCHA – Simone Rocha, STELLA MCCARTNEY – Stella McCartney, THEBE MAGUGU – Thebe Magugu, THOM BROWNE – Thom Browne, TOMO KOIZUMI – Tomo Koizumi, VALENTINO – Pierpaolo Piccioli, VERSACE – Donatella Versac VETEMENTS – Guram Gvasalia, VIKTOR & ROLF – Viktor Horsting & Rolf Snoeren, VIVIENNE WESTWOOD – Vivienne Westwood & Andreas Kronthaler, WALES BONNER – Grace Wales Bonner, Y/PROJECT – Glenn Martens
This one of a kind runway experience will be remade for the “Love Brings Love” exhibition which will also pay a tribute and will run from March 5 to July 10 at Palais Galliera fashion museum in Paris. May Elbaz’s legacy of “love brings love” always lives on.
