“Fashion has to be a part of life and life a part of fashion,” declared Alber Elbaz. So, with Barack Obama being sworn in as the 44th president of the United States during the Paris men’s shows, the Lanvin creative director decided to close his show with an Obama look-alike.
“I was watching CNN and Obama with his gorgeous smiles,” Elbaz said. “I saw a dream for change, and I wanted to convey that in a fun way.”
And he wasn’t the only one to pay homage to the new president. Jane Birkin sported an Obama pin front row at Hermès and said she’d followed most of the presidential inauguration in a cafe with a friend, drinking not flutes of Champagne but mugs of hot water. “I’m knee deep in rehearsals for my world tour,” she explained.
In Milan, Giorgio Armani also wore an Obama button at his show, and the fashion herd raced back to their hotels from the D&G runway to catch the inauguration ceremony on TV. After all, “Yes we can.”