Lanvin takes new direction as Bruno Sialelli departs

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Apr 14, 2023

Lanvin has jettisoned its creative director Bruno Sialelli, as the famed Paris fashion house embarks on a radically new direction, developing a new concept named Lanvin Lab.

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As part of the overhaul, the house will create two new vertical organizational structures – Leather Goods & Accessories and Lanvin Lab – while also maintaining its signature Main Collection.
 
“Lanvin announces that the house and Bruno Sialelli, who has served as creative director for four years, have agreed to part ways,” the house announced in a statement.

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“We are grateful to Bruno for his passion and commitment to the house and wish him the best as his creative journey continues,” said Siddhartha Shukla, deputy general manager of Lanvin, in the release.
 
Added Sialelli: “I am deeply proud of what we have achieved at Lanvin over the
past four years and wish to thank Lanvin and my team who through their unique talents and dedication have accompanied me in this great adventure.”
 
Lanvin is the flagship marque in the Lanvin Group, a luxury stable including St John Knits, Wolford and Sergio Rossi. Lanvin Group, which is controlled by a Chinese investment vehicle, was floated publicly last December in New York. The flotation, which valued Lanvin Group at $1.3 billion, was a rocky one, as its shares plummeted 25% on the opening day, albeit in a very volatile market.
 
Sialelli joined Lanvin in January 2019, after several confusing years in the wake of the sacking of the late great Alber Elbaz, who had established the house as a leading creative force in Paris. Sialelli joined from Loewe, marking another shift in direction, when he succeeded Bouchra Jarrar.
 
His initial collections for Lanvin and their artful staging in such varied locations as the Roman baths of Thermes de Cluny and a 19th arrondissement swimming pool won positive reviews. Though increasingly, his idiosyncratic style and frequent use of childish cartoon figures made many merchandisers and retailers winch.
 
During his tenure, Sialleli reported to three different bosses: initially to CEO Jean-Philippe Hecquet; then to Arnaud Bazin; and finally for the past 18 months to Shukla, an experienced communications executive who joined Lanvin from Theory, where he was chief brand officer.
 
Looking ahead, the house predicted that the Leather Goods & Accessories division, which accounts for more than half of Lanvin’s global business, “will drive future growth, assume a central place in the house’s product language with a new creative team and industrial support.”
 
While Lanvin Lab will become “an experimental space inviting creative partnerships with proven and rising international talents,” the first of whom will be announced in the coming weeks. The house will also maintain its tradition as a runway brand, keeping a slot on the official Paris Fashion Week calendar.
 
“Lanvin is poised for a new chapter. As we reimagine the brand, embracing the values instilled in it by Jeanne Lanvin over 130 years ago, we situate the house at the vanguard of fashion and culture at a time of extraordinary and inspiring change,” stressed Shukla. “Our model exalts Lanvin’s rich heritage and sophistication in a uniquely modern matrix of creativity,” the executive added.
 
The oldest continually operating couture house in France, Lanvin was founded in 1889 by Jeanne Lanvin, a legendary couturier who developed the first children’s collection for a major fashion marque. Its logo today still consists of a profile of mother and child.