It’s plain that Peter Copping is very, very inspired by the vast legacy left by Lanvin founder Jeanne Lanvin.
Designers usually work with one plywood-sized mood board tacked with inspiration images. Peter Copping, making his debut Sunday night at the house Jeanne built, had three lined up collaging various illustrations, print motifs, paintings by Tamara de Lempicka and Tsuguharu Foujita, the late designer’s private apartment that’s a key attraction at Les Arts Décoratifs, and photos of Lanvin herself.
Copping had taken a deep dive into a large archive of sketches, embroidery samples, interiors, and the actual clothes, held by several Paris museums and several storage sites controlled by the company.
“There’s probably a thousand different directions you could possibly take,” he confessed during a preview on Saturday morning. “I just thought, I’m not going to get too academic about all of this. I’m just going to pull all the things I like and just do things with them and see where it all leads.”
He settled on Jeanne Lanvin herself, taken by her “personal style” and the ’20s and ’30s, fashion decades she helped define.
It’s a testament to Copping’s taste, culture, and long experience designing for the likes of Louis Vuitton, Nina Ricci, Oscar de la Renta and Balenciaga, that he was able to etch all that legacy, lightly, into a cohesive collection.
It was a strong start at a brand that has struggled to find its footing in the wake of Alber Elbaz’s ouster in 2015, dabbling in streetwear and chasing celebrity buzz.
Copping continued along a path forged recently by Lanvin’s deputy general manager Siddhartha Shukla, who initiated an image and product reset hinged on a return to Jeanne Lanvin’s “chic ultime” and the proposal of a new French sophistication.
The designer further accentuated a sophisticated, grownup chic with his all-ages casting, and a focus on wardrobe essentials like peacoats and trenchcoats for women and men, the former with voluptuous proportions and dabs of satin; the latter in breezy fabrics reminiscent of Elbaz’s famous “flying” dresses.
What stood out were the sober and sophisticated color combinations, the soigné fabrics, and a restrained approach to embellishment — a fringed lapel here, a row of silvery press studs glinting up the back of a narrow skirt there.
The evening clothes had an instant heirloom quality and were glamorous to the right degree, whether it was a burgundy silk jumpsuit knotted and draped at the bosom or a frothy cocktail dress composed of crinkled ribbons. On a black velvet column, Copping draped the shoulders with silver sequins, and left it at that.
The designer is new to menswear, and there are some kinks to be worked out. But it’s clear Lanvin is now in very capable, inspired hands.
