What does the Lanvin customer want when they wake up in the morning?
That question was the bedrock of the French house’s resort 2024 collection, designed by its studio in the wake of the departure of artistic director Bruno Sialelli last April.
Deputy general manager Siddhartha Shukla said the brand was on track in its product strategy reset initiated a year ago, “repositioning the offer toward something that was speaking more thoroughly about the elegance and sophistication that should come from a house like Lanvin, married to the demands of the day.”
And what the client will want come spring, if the racks in its grand Paris showroom are anything to go by, is jazzed up no-brainer pieces for day and night.
For women, the brand’s stated intention of tapping into its Art Deco heyday for a sophisticated yet casual vibe translated into straightforward options like dresses, smart blouses and tailored blazers, as well as knitwear with corset like details, cape-back trenches, denim zhuzhed up with floral embroideries or sweaters with sleeves that could be buttoned three different ways.
Pleats were aplenty, nodding to house archives as well as founder Jeanne Lanvin’s contemporary Mariano Fortuny, offered in skirts, dresses and even bloomer shorts. Colors ranged from delicate pinks, rich reds and emerald green, to pool blue and absinth green.
The latter two hues were also the basis for a summer-minded section centered around a reinterpretation of a print titled “Antibes,” designed by Jeanne Lanvin, and developed into a range of kaftans, crop tops, tiered skirts and other breezy options. Come cocktail hour, there was plenty, too, with beaded dresses, sparkly separates or long and lean gowns.
In menswear, that less casual direction took a European sportswear feel, hitting a middle ground between suited-and-booted and urbanwear. Among the standouts were a blouson with gathers at the neck that turned the cut a bit blowsy; knits galore — thin-gauged for sweaters, thicker for zippered jackets; workwear-inspired blazers, and plenty of handsome denims, jeans and jackets alike.
Robustly developed here were the footwear, accessories but most of all, the leather goods, which has been expanded with tone-on-tone lacquered versions of its Cat bag, offered in three sizes, a new hobo shape and a soft clutch with a more abstract feline closure, and a newly-introduced small zippered Concerto version, expected to retail around 1,000 euros.
The Sequence segmented metal detail was distilled across purses and striking heels, while the sought-after Lanvin elasticated ballerina flat was shown in a variety of fabrications. They, along with the smart and realistic line up, should have consumers dancing all the way to the cash register.
