After four years at the Lanvin helm, Bruno Sialelli is set to depart the French label as it embarks on a “new creative configuration,” according to reports.
Sialelli — who has kept a relatively low profile since becoming Lanvin Creative Director in 2019 — will reportedly vacate his role with immediate effect, as the label turns its focus more towards luxury leather goods and accessories.
The 35-year-old joined the French house from the menswear division at LOEWE, after previous stints as a designer at labels like Acne Studios, Paco Rabanne and Balenciaga. His Lanvin departure, though, is undoubtedly the start of a new chapter for the brand, which showed at Fall/Winter 2023 Paris Fashion Week earlier this year.
This new Lanvin era is rumored to be beginning with the unveiling of a new Lanvin Lab initiative, a set-up seen regularly across fashion nowadays that’ll see the house invite guest-designers into the label, the first of which is expected to be revealed in the coming weeks.
The flagship Lanvin brand posted positive revenues of 67% to nearly €122 million for 2022 as it began carving a name for itself amongst younger and more street-savvy dressers.
Despite an upturn in sales and an overall greater appreciation of the brand on a more general level, a new-look Lanvin without Sialelli is off and underway.
While this news does naturally have its risks (not least following favorable recent numbers), short-term it’ll be intriguing to see the launch of Lanvin Lab and its first guest-designer. Long-term, though, I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.