YOUNG AT HEART

Bruno Sialelli’s youthful energy is ushering in a contemporary new era at the oldest and longest-running French couture house Lanvin.

By HASSAN AL-SALEH

Bruno Sialelli may be yet a relatively unknown designer, but what is for certain is that he has taken the haute Parisian house of Lanvin in a pivotal new direction with his singular and very personal vision. The French designer was appointed as Creative Director in 2019 after stints at Balenciaga, Acne Studios, Paco Rabanne and most recently Loewe. 

The son of a French father and a Tunisian mother, Sialelli grew up between the South of France and Morocco and started his humble beginnings as an apprentice in the costume department of Opéra de Marseille before moving to Paris and enrolling in fashion design school. Today, the designer is tasked with reinvigorating the storied house of Lanvin and propelling the brand to new frontiers - while honoring its 130-year-old legacy.

He does not appear phased by the pressure. His approach, while reverential and intuitive, is youthful and playful - creating a modern vernacular that speaks to a new generation.

You've had a multifaceted fashion schooling, first interning at Opéra de Marseille and then working for a number of statement brands. Talk to us about your journey.

I sort of instinctively always knew that I would work in or for fashion, even if I did not have a clear sense of the notion of fashion as I see and do it today. I don’t come from a proper fashion background, but I was surrounded by it in some ways all of my life through my family. I understood the purpose of it before learning the application of it. Each step of my career, starting with the apprenticeship in Marseille, is key to me. It is an on-going learning process, from the things I do, to the people I work with. My entire process if based on empiricism and interaction.

Reinventing a historic house such as Lanvin is an overwhelming and mammoth task. In what ways are you connecting your own vision of the brand’s future with its past?

First, it comes with an immense respect for this unique legacy. Then, I am interested in the genesis of it, and the people behind it. It is mandatory to understand why and how it came to life. It gives me some roots on which to build and project my own vision. I truly feel that I started a dialogue with Jeanne Lanvin as I deeply understand what she did. Then, my role is to “talk” with my own language, in my own context, my age, my time, my references. I process what I see and feel from the 130 years of archives to project it into today - through my own filters and my understanding of my time.

The Lanvin of today is different from the Lanvin of Alber Elbaz and Lucas Ossendrijver and most certainly of the stately couture of Jeanne Lanvin. How are you defining the brand’s new identity?

I do respect every step of Lanvin’s history, from Jeanne to Alber. So many talented designers worked for this house and each of them brought something to it in their own way. My mission is to put Lanvin back where it should be today as one of the greatest French fashion houses. Jeanne Lanvin was so prolific and smart on how to brand its name that I decided to list what I feel are the key elements, the key references, the key images and archive elements. Then, I am bringing my vision and my projection as a creative in today’s world. It is being rational on one hand, to create a clear system of references, and intuitive on the other hand, to let my inspirations take its space within my own universe.

Your work is closely connected to your childhood and things that you have a close affinity with. How do you honor the brand’s legacy and heritage in a way that resonates with your own artistic expression? Where does your kooky personality come into play?

My dialogue with Jeanne Lanvin is a real dialogue. It is the meeting of two personalities in two different contexts. Jeanne defined the pillars from which I am projecting my vision, both rationally and intuitively. I am not so interested in childhood for what it is but, mainly, for what it allows. Childhood is made of fantasies, some kind of poetry and stories, peopled by characters. All those characters are numerous, from comic strips, to movies, to music, to real life heroes. Also, I am interested in childhood as it resonates when you grow up and become an adult. I was lucky enough to be born in between two eras, in the late 80s. So, as a kid, I grew up without digital being a part of my daily life. I had time to let my spirit escape, to be bored, to create stories based on the characters surrounding me. This comes naturally to me until today, even if digital is now everywhere in my life. Childhood was also what brought Jeanne to create Lanvin as we know it, from the love of her own daughter Marguerite, from her fascination for this child and her childhood to which Jeanne wanted to be part of to the point where the most iconic emblem of Lanvin is the “mother and daughter” logo that we still use today.

What has been your approach to building a new era at Lanvin and how will you be taking it forward? Are you a proponent of evolutions or revolutions?

My approach is to be able, at once, to rationally dig into the archives and the deep history of the house to define what I feel are the key references, and to let my instinct bring my own vision and projection. Also, I feel that my main duty is to maintain Lanvin, making it alive and relevant in today’s époque and to pass over the reins when the time will come - I hope in a long, long time! I am proud to write a new chapter for this amazing storied house. So, I would really focus on evolution in the way we work, how we do and create things, to adapt to today’s world. Rather than revolution, Lanvin is a house of proposition.

In what ways are you bringing back Jeanne Lanvin’s enterprising, forward-looking vision?

There is not much we know about Jeanne Lanvin as she was very discreet and never really placed herself in the front line of media and social exercises. However, we clearly know that she was a real entrepreneur. Being a woman, that young, to build her own company, coming from a modest family, shows that she had the energy and the intelligence for it. She created what the fashion system is today: a strong name from which we build an entire lifestyle - somehow, she used marketing way in advance. As Jeanne Lanvin became a reference, both in style and as a company, she extended her business - launching perfumes, sportswear, decoration, hats, kidswear and so on. She also had the biggest ateliers at the time and applied a lot of social advancements in human resources. Today, we still have - more than ever - the entrepreneurial spirit, looking for innovative ideas, questioning processes, finding new solutions. It is our duty to re-think the way we are working while keeping what’s working. I feel that, as part of my generation, it is my duty to redefine things - not only in my professional life, but also in my personal life.

One of the positive outcomes of this pandemic is that it has forced many of us to self-reflect during quarantine. Has it made you re-think your role as a designer in a wider context?

My hope is the ability for my generation to make things change or, at least, to stand for it. I understand my role and my responsibilities in both my professional and personal lives. Not only through the pandemic, but mainly through the awareness of our society’s challenges, I can use my voice and my work to make things evolve in the right direction. It is not about being political but being connected to the world we live in and to the world we want the next generations to live in. Coming from where I come from, I grew up looking at things, whether positive or negative, and to give them a sense. Being in my position today, I know now that I have a forum to express my views directly or indirectly, and I acknowledge the responsibility that comes with it.

Do you think the crisis will fix the fashion system and change fashion for the better?

Partly, yes. I guess some questions - notably diversity and sustainability - are now at the center of everyone’s attention. Also, these changes come with a change of generation within the industry. Younger designers, younger CEOs, younger people at executive jobs…being young is not the answer to everything, it just shows that references are no longer the same and that a new paradigm is under construction. I feel very humble as I do not have all the answers, nobody does, but we are moving collectively in the same direction with the same purpose: making this world a better place.

What are you looking forward to in the future for both yourself and for Lanvin?

First of all, to continue to be surrounded by people I love living and working with. I do feel really lucky to be in such a position today. Then, I wish Lanvin will become again one of the main references of French fashion. This name, this legacy, deserves to be understood for what it really is and represents.