Lanvin RTW Spring 2023

Lanvin rolled out a quieter brand of chic for spring 2023, hinged on pristine tailoring, pert cocktail dressing and carefully measured dollops of embellishment.

The historic French house, still led by designer Bruno Sialelli, had already pointed to a more customer-focused, less fashion-driven product strategy with its resort collection, when its new deputy general manager Siddhartha Shukla summed up the new direction as “restoring elegance and sophistication to the everyday.”

The patchy lighting and watery projections in Lanvin’s faraway venue did no favors to this collection, which seemed to have interesting fabrics that were powdery and papery, and others with a hint of transparency or iridescence.

A seafaring theme came through via the videos playing on the walls — fully dressed models falling backward into the water — and via fishing-net tops on both sexes: hers trapping sparkly silver embroideries; his stiffer and more roughly knotted. Backstage, Sialelli said these scenes, shot in the protected Calanques National Park near Marseilles, were a nod to his hometown and the fragility of nature.

The menswear in this coed show felt newsier in terms of proportion, featuring boxy shirts that were cropped short and often worn doubled up.

Ragged edges, a brand code introduced by the late Alber Elbaz, gave a subtle edginess to Sialelli’s fine cutting of long, lean coats and boxy blazers. A trio of goddess dresses at the end, with their intricate swags of pleated silk tulle, were truly breathtaking, a wink to Jeanne Lanvin’s work from the 1930s. Little panniers built into some were bang on trend.

In recent years, Sialleli has brought attention to Lanvin via buzzy collaborations with Babar the Elephant and Batman, and sold truckloads of Curb skater sneakers with jumbo laces. Taking the heritage path, even if it might be a slow burn, feels like a smart move for Lanvin, the oldest couture house in Paris.