Eye | Alber Elbaz Says Designers Are Like Nuns | American Nuns on Real Life

Alber Elbaz At London Vogue’s April 28 Festival

Smart Sensuality designer — and creative director of Lanvin — Alber Elbaz hopes to convince the public that fashion designers aren’t really kingpins, when he talks at the London’s second Vogue Festival on April 28, organized by British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman in association with Vertu. 

Tell that to Karl Lagerfeld, my dear designer and true lover of women!

“Maybe they think that a designer is living a very glamorous life and they start their day not with coffee, but Champagne,” he said. “Trust me, it’s coffee. The designers, photographers and models that I work with, they are hard-working people who devote their lives to fashion. They’re kind of like nuns of fashion.”

Albers continued in a recent interview with London’s The Independent:

“Everybody thinks that because it’s luxury it should be very intimidating; you go into the store and it should look like a pharmacy,” he told The Independent. “But guess what? We’re not buying Tylenol! We’re buying a red bag, a diamond shoe and a printed dress, so I think that we should have a little lightness and be a little less strict about everything. If you come to a pharmacy and everything is arranged, then you don’t want to touch it. I don’t want people to be intimidated.”

What a fresh voice in a muddle of frequently self-absorbed people! 

Tom Craig’s Louis Vuitton Photography Exhibit

In conjunction with the festival, Louis Vuitton will host a Tom Craig and Bay Garnett photography exhibition ‘All Four Corners’, held at the Bond Street store’s private apartment. Craig will showcase a collection of Vogue imagery including Rachel Weisz and Stella Tennant. 

Rihanna NOT Fronting Chanel Accessories

The rumour mill had Rihanna possibly fronting a new accessories campaign for Chanel. Vogue UK writes absolutely not! It still remains to be seen as to which “top secret ad campaign” Rihanna was referring to in her original post - although her upcoming collaboration with MAC Cosmetics is a likely contender - but it’s definitely not Chanel. 

Earlier this month, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour interviewed AOC favorite Sister Simone Campbell about her hopes for Pope Francis and a renewed focus on the poor from the Vatican. 

Sister Simone expressed a cautious optimism regarding the Vatican but also speaks frankly of her own investigation as a radical feminist determined to undercut the Rome patriarchy.  (Read AOC archives on American nuns installing now.)

In addition to Amanpour’s interview, 60 Minutes touched base with American nuns in this recent segment in which Bob Simon interviews past president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious Pat Farrell. Note: the Vatican announced today April 15, 2013 that the investigation and reform of American nuns will continue. 

American Nuns Struggle with Vatican for Change