Lucas Ossendrijver exits Lanvin

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Nov 15, 2018

It’s official. After weeks of rumors, Lucas Ossendrijver, the long-time menswear designer of Lanvin, has left France’s oldest couture house.

 
His departure marks the fourth designer to have quit Lanvin in as many years. It follows the sacking of Alber Elbaz in 2015 due to loggerheads between that legendary designer and Lanvin’s then majority shareholder Shaw-Lan Wang.
 
Since then, both Bouchra Jarrar and Olivier Lapidus have entered and exited the position of womenswear designer chez Lanvin. The exit of the 48-year-old Dutch-born Ossendrijver, though widely expected, means that Lanvin now has no designer for either women’s or men’s fashion.

“The last years have been an incredible journey. I want to thank my team, the wonderful partners and manufacturers who made everything possible, and especially those who believed in me from the start. I am very proud of what we achieved together,” said Ossendrijver in an official statement released Thursday morning.
 
Lanvin hopes to replace Ossendrijver with Bruno Sialelli, the former head of men’s wear at Loewe, according to WWD. Sialelli is apparently being considered to design both women’s and men’s collections.

“Lanvin will announce Mr. Ossendrijver’s successor shortly,” the company statement added.
 
A popular figure in Paris, Ossendrijver was noted for fusing sporty ideas and technical fabrics into the sophisticated vision creative director Elbaz had for Lanvin. The two almost always took a joint bow after each show. His departure brings to an end a 14-year-run, an impressive figure in today’s fashion industry, where many designers barely last three years with major houses.
 
Ossendrijver, who joined Lanvin after assisting Hedi Slimane at Dior Homme, will leave with his head held high, after completing a memorable body of work at Lanvin that truly advanced the fashion vernacular.
 
In February, Fosun International from China acquired Lanvin, though both Taiwan-based media magnate Shaw-Lan Wang and Swiss businessman Ralph Bartel still retain minority stakes. In August, Fosun named Jean-Philippe Hecquet to be the new CEO of Lanvin.
 
“After 14 years as Artistic Director of Lanvin’s menswear collections, during which time Lucas Ossendrijver applied his unwavering vision of functional luxury and experimentation, Mr. Ossendrijver leaves the company in search of new challenges,” the house said in the statement.

Added Hecquet: “We are so thankful for Lucas’s dedication to Lanvin men’s collections spanning over a decade, helping the house create an era of elegant minimalism that eschewed trends, instead focusing on the evolution of his clear vision for the contemporary man. His technical expertise and creativity with fabric and silhouette will always remain an indelible part of Lanvin’s codes.”