Lanvin continues the “real people” trend, casting some seriously fabulous older ladies as fall campaign stars
First Dolce & Gabbana, then American Apparel and now Lanvin have all given their stamps of approval on the real-person-as-model phenomenon, with Alber Elbaz being the latest to prominently feature non-models in his designs.
After images of Lanvin’s Steven Meisel–lensed fall campaign first surfaced online last week, the interweb was desperately trying to pinpoint who exactly the Hitchcock-meets-punk blonde and glamorous advanced age models were. Turns out, they’re part of a motley cast of everyday women, including a waiter, a milliner and a recent U.S. immigrant. The older beauty is the only one who’s been named so far: she’s Advanced Style muse Jacquie “Rajah” Murdock, an ex-Apollo showgirl who’s always dreamed of going to Paris to model (now thanks to Elbaz, she’s finally gotten her moment in front of the lens).
“I was interested to bring these clothes back to the street somehow, and seeing how they look on different ages, different sizes,” Elbaz told WWD. “It felt like a crazy family, and I like that.”
The campaign may not be slated for release until September, but a viral video will be unveiled on August 21. If it’s anything like the last Lanvin video (remember Karen Elson and Raquel Zimmermann dancing straight-faced to Pitbull?), it will be amazing.