Is Lanvin about to become the new Balenciaga?

Though Lanvin may be the oldest French couture house still in operation – first opening its doors 135 years ago – the label has experienced some turbulence of late. After Alber Elbaz’s shock firing in 2015, the brand has struggled to properly re-establish itself, cycling through three different creative directors since then, with Bruno Sialelli parting ways with the brand back in April 2023.

Though a year is a long time to go without a creative director, it seems Lanvin was using that time to get the decision exactly right, this week naming Peter Copping as its new artistic director. “Lanvin Group is delighted to welcome Peter Copping to Lanvin,” said CEO Eric Chan in a statement released yesterday, where he also lauded Copping’s “outstanding talent”. In the same statement, Copping expressed his “extreme honour” to be chosen and praised house founder Jeanne Lanvin as a “visionary of her time.”

Over an enviable career in fashion, Copping worked alongside Marc Jacobs for a decade at Louis Vuitton, was creative director of Nina Ricci in the early 2010s, and was personally selected to take over Oscar de la Renta by the designer himself before his passing in 2014. More recently, however, Copping joined Balenciaga in 2021 just as Demna was reviving the label’s dormant couture arm. As head of that division, Copping worked closely with the Georgian designer to help bring the label’s couture heritage and Demna’s modern style together, before moving on to VIP projects, where he spearheaded custom looks like Kim Kardashian’s blacked-out Met Gala gown. Chances are board members are hoping Copping will sprinkle some of that Balenciaga hype on Lanvin’s new output, but it may take a while to get there – the label is once again sitting out Paris Fashion Week in September, and is yet to announce when Copping’s first collection will be unveiled.

In other fashion news this week, Doja Cat rocked up to Schiaparelli as a modern day Audrey Hepburn; guests at Balenciaga’s latest Haute Couture show zoned out to an instructional relaxation tape; Bella Hadid returned from her modelling hiatus with a sultry Saint Laurent campaign; we partnered with adidas Originals for a Paris Fashion Week dinner hosted by Gabriette; the viral ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl just dropped the hottest merch of the summer; BUTT magazine hosted a sweat-soaked queer rave for Warsaw Pride; Glastonbury officially kicked off this week, so we rounded up the festival’s greatest fashion moments; plus, fashion month finally came to an end with Couture Week, and we looked back at all the wildest, most lavish shows. For everything else you might’ve missed, click through the gallery below.