PARIS — In a break from buzz and hype — and the handful of names that circulate relentlessly online in relation to fashion’s spectator sport of musical chairs — Lanvin went for a low-key, seasoned talent instead.
On Thursday, the French house said British designer Peter Copping would start in September as its new artistic director.
The announcement came a day after Balenciaga unveiled its fourth couture collection by Demna since it resumed making high fashion in 2021, more than 50 years after the Spanish founder Cristóbal Balenciaga closed his legendary couture house.
Most recently, Copping worked at Balenciaga, where he “directed the ateliers for the reintroduction of the couture collection,” according to Lanvin.
But he is probably best known for helming Oscar de la Renta and Nina Ricci earlier in his career.
Copping is expected to immediately turn his hand to Lanvin’s pre-fall 2025 collections for women and men. The exact timing of his runway debut could not immediately be learned.
In the denouement to a prolonged search for a new creative lead, Lanvin said Copping would bring “the singular perspective and technical expertise of a modern couturier,” drawing on the “breadth and depth of his wide-ranging experience.”
“His mission aligns with the brand transformation initiated over the past two years wherein Lanvin is reframed in contemporary culture by a sensibility of radical chic and French sophistication.”
Siddhartha Shukla, deputy chief executive officer of Lanvin, characterized Copping’s arrival as “an important milestone in the renaissance of one of the great French maisons. I am confident that with Peter’s vision and technical rigor and the continued perseverance of our teams globally, we will identify a new frontier in fashion and deliver beauty and results in equal measure.”
Eric Chan, CEO of publicly traded Lanvin Group, echoed the sentiment, expressing his certainty that “Peter’s outstanding talent and capacity to reinterpret the codes of the maison with curiosity and innovation make him the ideal candidate to drive success for Lanvin.”
For his part, Copping said he was “extremely honored” to be selected for the role and “along with the atelier and teams, to write the next chapter for this iconic house.
“Jeanne Lanvin was a visionary of her time whose interests and passions extended far beyond fashion, as do my own,” he added.
A graduate of the Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins in London, Copping worked for several years in the design studios of Sonia Rykiel before being recruited by Marc Jacobs as his first assistant in 1997 when Louis Vuitton expanded into ready-to-wear.
Copping remained at Vuitton until 2009, when he was recruited as creative director of Nina Ricci, moving over to Oscar de la Renta five years later.
In the statement, Lanvin noted that de la Renta had been a couture assistant at Lanvin under Antonio Castillo, who helmed the Paris house from 1950 to 1962 following the death of founder Jeanne Lanvin.
In 2014, de la Renta had designated Copping as his successor with the intention of a gradual handover, a plan upset when de la Renta died several months later following a long battle with cancer.
In another nugget of historical serendipity, Copping becomes the second designer to have worked at both Nina Ricci and Lanvin during his career. Jules-François Crahay, who had taken over from Castillo at Lanvin in 1963, remaining for 20 years, had previously helmed Nina Ricci for 11 years, starting in 1952.
After exiting de la Renta in 2016, and before joining Balenciaga for its return to couture in 2021, Copping devoted himself to interiors projects: contributing to Architectural Digest France; curating sales of English and European antiques for Christie’s London, and codesigning a range of high-end cushions and throws inspired by his and Rambert Rigaud’s 15th-century manor in Normandy, France.
Lanvin’s previous creative director Bruno Sialelli, who logged a four-year stint, parted ways with the French house in April 2023. His last collection was for the fall 2023 season, an understated effort focused on elevated everyday dressing, tailoring, chemise dresses and subtle nods to the house’s 1920s heyday.
Since the arrival four years ago of Shukla as deputy general manager, Lanvin has deployed a comprehensive reset of its product strategy. He also built dedicated teams for leather goods and accessories, and established Lanvin Lab for rotating collaborations of a more experimental nature.
Recent collections have hinged on a quieter form of chic linked to Lanvin’s claim to fame as the oldest fashion house in Paris — in line with a wider trend to heritage luxury.
Copping arrives at Lanvin Group’s flagship brand at a challenging time for luxury.
The conglomerate, which also operates the Wolford, St. John, Sergio Rossi and Caruso brands, saw just 1 percent sales growth last year amid macroeconomic headwinds and other challenges.
