Touch of Excellence

This morning, I read The Future of Fashion, Part Six: Alber Elbaz on Style.com. This is a series by Dirk Standen where he gathers the perspectives of different journalists, designers, and insiders about the ever changing economic and technological changes in the fashion industry as we enter this new decade. 


I have admired Elbaz's work at Lanvin for some time now. Lanvin is certainly one of the labels I look forward to every season. But I must also say I find Elbaz to be just a very cool guy. I love hearing him speak, he's very gentle, kind, and thoughtful in his message, and he seems to just have a lovely spirit. When he comes out to take his bow at the end of a show, everyone cheers and smiles, which to me, is a testament to his personality.
In the article, Elbaz was candid on the state of fashion and that he feels the designers, editors, buyers, etc are all exhausted. He says, "When I go out sometimes to this kind of fashion event and I see other designers, I see that one of them has a pain in the back and the other one has a migraine and the third one is exhausted, because we are going through this process that is endless. And I think that today editors are feeling the same way, because they have to travel the world season after season and just see and write the reviews in a taxi where they don’t have the time to think about it."


I loved this because, just as someone who follow fashion by way of his MacBook, I find it exhausting to remember the collections these days. I couldn't imagine doing what Mark Holgate or Hilary Alexander do every season. For example, why are Resort 2011 collections being shown already? I understand the notion of "onto the next" and that fashion is an industry of change, however, I feel if the fashion houses would slow down, the consumer would appreciate the collections more. Instead, it all just piles together and people just forget.


Also, Elbaz commented on celebrities attempting to be part of fashion and the need for everyone to stay in their role. " Everybody wants to do everything, everybody needs to do everything, and everybody feels that he can. And I’m still feeling that a dancer should dance and a chef should cook and a singer should sing and a designer of clothes should do clothes," said Elbaz. "Because the moment we try to do everything for ourselves, we’re becoming very mediocre in what we do, and we don’t go to extremes and we don’t touch excellence. And I prefer to touch excellence."


This is so true. And it is evident with the work he does. Stick to what you do best and be the absolute best you can be in it. 


[Photo courtesy of More Intelligent Life]