Love Brings Love
If fashion is an eternal cycle, it is also the foundation of perpetual innovation. AZ Factory is the perfect example. Founded by Alber Elbaz in 2019, this house cultivates irony, collects contradictions and offers fashion new democratization. AZ Factory is a factory and laboratory where dreams are only realities in the making …
Love Brings Love
A Phoenix named Alber
After making his name at Lanvin, Alber Elbaz took a five-year hiatus to move away from fashion to find something new. In that time, the Israeli designer dropped his pencils to try his hand at lecturing. He made his voice heard all over the world, meeting with different generations and discovering new aspirations. Elbaz returned to the fashion industry with a fresh perspective, imagining a democratic, ready-to-wear brand that was committed and structured like a start-up. He moved away from focusing on just the most prominent names to dressing the masses, choosing no better time to unveil his work than Haute Couture week!
A Reluctant Fashion House
AZ Factory is, above all, a story of contradictions. Most Artistic Directors hoisted their names to the front of the stage and the collars of their collections; Alber Elbaz presented with just his first and last letters of his name. Instead of sticking to standard sizing, he extended traditional sizing from XXS to XXXXL. He chose parody over perfection when presenting his collections. When his peers drew inspiration from the most profound reflections, he looked to amateur runners jogging on the side of the Seine dressed in brightly coloured uniforms. The provocative genius, Alber Elbaz, offered AZ Factory a contrasting DNA.
Style Lab
Bold, sparkling, bursting with creativity, the first AZ Factory collection set the tone. We savour his delicious marriage of daring, comfort and inventiveness in addition to his signature style. From mesh dresses that hug and shape the body through super-tech fabrics and different levels of elasticity to mutton sleeves and XXL necklines. While zips adorn the front of garments for greater ease, bra ribs enhance the back for support. Elbaz covered dressing from night to day and night again with sets in pyjama-silks painted with patterns by artists discovered on Instagram, to hoodies paired with satin skirts switching from streetwear to dinner on the town.
Love Brings Love
As a final rendezvous, during a catwalk on 5th October, AZ Factory paid tribute to its founding father. Attentively watched by the entire fashion community, the show closed Paris Fashion Week. It was the perfect moment to celebrate the life and work of this virtuoso born in Casablanca, who conquered New York, Paris and the whole world. A prodigy, who even removed the “T” from his first name to better reflect his roots. With brilliance, humour, elegance, wisdom and a little madness, Alber Elbaz is one of the most brilliant couturiers of his generation. From A… to Z…
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