Breaking: Alber Elbaz to Leave Lanvin

Alber Lebaz, Lanvin's adorably bowtied and bespectacled creative director for the past 14 years, is stepping down from the French fashion house. An official announcement is expected in the next few days, which should look something like this:

This is only the latest in a string of departures from Europe's top houses, following Alexander Wang's split from Balenciaga, and Raf Simons and Dior calling it quits.

While we were all sad to see them go, Wang and Simons had only been at their respective houses a few years after replacing creative directors who were instrumental in shaping their brands (respectively, Nicolas Ghesquiere and John Galliano.)

During his tenure, Elbaz has done so much at Lanvin that he and the brand are almost inseparable in the mind. However, according to WWD, things may have soured between the two:

While the parties are likely to characterize the development as by mutual agreement, sources said the rupture came following disagreements between the charismatic Israeli designer and company principals: owner Shaw-Lan Wang and chief executive officer Michele Huiban.

Members of Elbaz's design team were informed of the less-than mutual agreement this morning, while Elbaz has already emptied out his offices.

Le sigh. Well, look on the bright side, kids. If there's a potential match made in heaven, it's Alber Elbaz and Dior.

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Les Fabian Brathwaite--fashion musical chairman.