A year on, Lanvin’s creative director Bouchra Jarrar says she needs unity to fix label’s problems

More women than ever hold leading creative roles at Europe’s biggest luxury fashion labels, including Christian Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri and Bouchra Jarrar at Lanvin.

“It’s wonderful to arrive at Lanvin as a woman because it’s a woman’s story,” says Jarrar, who took over as Lanvin’s artistic director for womenswear a year ago. “There was the founder Jeanne-Marie Lanvin, and there is the owner Madame Wang,” she says, referring to Taiwanese billionaire and majority shareholder Shaw-Lan Wang.

“And I arrive, as a designer wanting to make women trust themselves, giving them strength as well as softness. That’s my mission.”

Jarrar’s latest collection in Paris featured frou-frou details on pure flowing dresses and sharply tailored suiting. Satin and silks wrapped around models in sensual gowns, some with Grecian-inspired draping. But in many cuts, silhouettes and sombre colours, Jarrar showed off a powerful discipline. Chunky furs, flashes of leather and the odd sexy sheer made for extravagant flourishes to predominantly white, black, cream and pink nude line-up.

Founded in 1889, France’s oldest house in operation was given new relevance during Alber Elbaz’s 14 years at the helm. However, flagging sales and a public row between Elbaz and Wang culminated in the much-loved designer’s exit from the label last year.