Olivier Lapidus Exits Lanvin After Only Two Collections
Well, that didn’t take long: After less than a year on the job, Lanvin’s Artistic Director Olivier Lapidus will exit the role, according to a release distributed by the French fashion house on Thursday morning. The in-house design team will be responsible for the women’s collections until a new hire is announced. The top-level departure follows the news of Fosun International’s acquisition of Lanvin earlier this year. In other internal news, Joann Cheng, president of Fosun Fashion Group and chairman of the board of directors of Lanvin, has been appointed as CEO of Lanvin for “an interim period,” according to the brand’s statement. Nicolas Druz, who was hired as Lanvin’s general manager last year, will transition to managing director of Fosun Fashion Group, supporting the Chinese conglomerate’s business expansion in Europe. Though Lapidus had big plans for Lanvin’s future — including the goal of transforming the legacy couture house into a “French Michael Kors” — insiders knew it was only a matter of time until he would step down. Upon replacing Bouchra Jarrar in July 2017, the two collections he presented at Paris Fashion Week were met with extremely poor reviews, some of which bordered on cruel. “There is just no excuse for this ugly, boring fashion,” wrote The Washington Post‘s Robin Givhan on Lapidus’s debut collection last September. “Today Lanvin looked less expensive than ever,” said Dan Thawley for Business of Fashion. Read more at Fashionista.
