The Timelessness of Elegance at Peter Coppings Lanvin Debut
Review of Lanvin Fall 2025 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Artful Deco-dance, Effortless Elegance, Timelessness
There are few fashion houses who can boast that they are “the oldest continually operating Parisian couture Maison [who were] founded in 1889”, but the revelation of this fact was made clear in todays opening statement by newly appointed Artistic Director of Lanvin Peter Copping, who harnessed a palette of rich darks and a penchant for decadent dressing to unify the co-ed collection of his debut show which closed Paris fashion week men’s.
The show notes accompanying today’s collection spoke of “a return to timeless values of elegance and savoir-faire”, timelessness being that elusive character that so many brands are seeking to capture, yet always seem to fall shy of was here within the walls of the Pavillon Gabriel at the tale end of a busy week of shows and presentations. Dressed in an Art Deco carpet and mood lighting, the show space felt like a sanctuary and the most atmospheric setting for the debut. The chic elegance that was to become a house mantra, and encoded into everything that was produced by the Maison, was a discovery from Coppings archival research that would serve to guide his opening for Lanvin. Womenswear was inspired by the founders’ own wardrobe and featured fluid columnar silhouettes referencing the linear way in which Art Deco designs are formed, with highly decorative embellishment which seemed to make its own music as some of the heavier sequinned dresses jingled past the audience. Wallpaper prints were spliced together with sheer panelling, and crinkled and pleated deep burgundy and silver grey dresses felt like they were from an era that you couldn’t quite pinpoint, creating that timelessness to which this debut was seeking to convey, even the charcoal grey knitted midi dress with its asymmetric ribbing was operating on another timeline.
To the menswear and the founders’ innate sense of colour (she is known to have owned her own dye factory in Nanterre, where she created vivid hues including Polignac pink and Velazquez green) which is what stood out within the collection as “archetypical Parisian garments, are given new volumes and afforded detail in satin” according to the show notes. Trench coats and parka jackets were given a fluid lightness, while “a couture sensibility translate[d] to notions of preciousness and craft” and could be found in the suede and leather bomber with a patchwork triangle motif, a two-tone jacquard cardigan and an officers coat with a generous collar and lapel in a deep tan. Yet, it will be the Artistic Director’s evolution of his blouses from today’s fall 2025 collection that will be the silhouette sure to leave the biggest impression. As with the many other designers this season who have leaned into a poetic romance for their man, here it was fully embraced as those “couture gestures” were on full display with both a lightly crinkled cream top with a sequinned yoke in contrast black and a beautiful statement crepe blouse with a silver art deco-inspired embellishment that was museum-worthy and is likely to be the most called-in piece for editorial shoots.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
This collection is deeply personal – an homage to Jeanne Lanvin’s world and her intimate sense of style. I sought to project the essence of her wardrobe today while imagining it on a cast of modern characters – which I hope you’ll enjoy to discover.”
Peter Copping, Artistic Director, Lanvin
THE WRAP UP
Peter Copping’s debut for Lanvin felt like a personal passion project as it was a measured collection which spoke to the idea of how to develop ideas that are inherently fashion, yet have a timeless quality. And in the case of today’s show it was down to a true understanding of the heritage of the Jeanne Lanvin aesthetic, bringing the popular Art Deco graphic design movement into the modern world, and harnessing the brands history of rich colours to create looks which were “archetypal Parisian garments” but through the use of couture gestures were elevated to a refined effortless elegance, belonging to no particular moment in time.
