BRUNO SIALELLI IS THE GOOD LANVIN PATH TO FOLLOW
Posted on by Cameron Tewson
It’s Bruno Sialelli’s second season at Lanvin. And it’s really not the easiest Maison to design for, especially after the so idiosyncratic Alber Elbaz era and the last couple of turbulent years related to the label’s ownership and direction. And add up to all this Jeanne Lanvin, the founder of the brand, who left behind a vast archive. Before Lanvin, Sialelli was one of the designers at Jonathan Anderson’s Loewe. His debut collection was mildly received (quite wrongly – the new arrivals coming to Lanvin’s e-shop are gorgeous, take a look!), because the designer still had the Loewe mentality, soft for artistically random, crafty details.
This hasn’t changed for spring-summer 2020. Not only the weather wasn’t in favour of Sialelli’s line-up, but also the lack of edit. A bit of tailoring, a bit of flou. A print inspired by comic stories, multi-coloured checks, more comics. Some unflattering leatherworks that were put over frocks and skirts. The mini dresses in the finale were absolutely whatever. The strongest point of the collection was the pleated, fluorescent blue gown that felt very, very Jeanne Lanvin. This is a good path to follow. I bet the details of this collection were great as well, but they are just too small to catch for a runway show. While an eclectic, “curated” look works at Loewe, Lanvin needs something different. Big hopes Bruno finds it sooner or later.
