I sat down to write this post fully intending to share a History of Fashion level tribute to the life and career of Alber Elbaz.
The Moroccan-born, Israeli designer passed away this week at the age of 59 due to complications from COVID-19.
But instead what happened was a scenario my Yiayia would often recount to me. She had a rolltop desk in her kitchen. And every year or so she would vow to clean it out. But every time she opened it, ready to organize and purge, she came across a memory. A letter. A ticket stub. A Post-it note. And a worthwhile endeavor turned into an entire day of reminiscing.
The desk never got clean.
I have collected so many editorials, runway images, interviews, speeches and anecdotes that Alber has shared, I simply fell down the rabbit hole revisiting them. I guess I’m not ready to write his History of Fashion.
Instead, I will share a very limited number of quotes Alber gave over the years.
May your memory be eternal, kind soul.
“My conclusion today is that fashion is very important, today maybe more than ever, because we fashion designers maybe have a role. We have the duty to bring beauty to the world, to make women feel better, to make women feel good, to uplift them.”
“Fashion is not a reality, but it can become a reality if there’s nothing else in your life.”
“… this is why his clothes are always so wearable and so loving. They are always a step short of theatricality. With the same vocabulary, a designer could do something theatrical; he does something emotional.” — Izhar Patkin
“We designers started as couturiers with dreams, with intuitions and with feelings.…Then we became creative directors, so we have to create, but mostly direct. And now we have become image makers, making sure it looks good in pictures. The screen has to scream, baby…loudness is the new cool. I prefer whispering. I think it goes deeper and lasts longer.”