Alber Elbaz (; 12 June 1961 – 24 April 2021) was an Israeli fashion designer. He was the creative director of Lanvin in Paris from 2001 until 2015, after having done stints at a number of other fashion houses, including Geoffrey Beene, Guy Laroche, and Yves Saint Laurent. He founded the Richemont-backed label AZ Factory in 2019. Early life and education Elbaz was born in Casablanca, Morocco, to a Jewish family. Elbaz's mother, Algeria, was a painter and his father, Meyer, a hairdresser. His family immigrated to Israel when Elbaz was eight months old and he grew up in the city of Holon. Elbaz's father died when Albert was a teenager and his mother became a cashier to support her four children—Albert, his brother and his two sisters. Elbaz later enlisted and served as a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, and subsequently studied at the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design in Ramat Gan, Israel. His mother encouraged Elbaz's early interest in fashion, as he had begun drawing dresses at seven years old, and gave him $800 when he left home for New York City in 1985 to pursue fashion professionally. Fashion career Arriving in New York, Elbaz first worked for a bridal firm, then trained over the course of seven years as a senior assistant to Geoffrey Beene. In New York, Elbaz dropped the last letter of his first name, becoming Alber so that his name would be pronounced correctly in English as well as because he felt it made a better name for a fashion brand. From 1996 until 1998, Elbaz worked for the French house of Guy Laroche as head of prêt-à-porter, moving to Paris in 1997 and drawing favorable notice in the fashion press. Appointed by Pierre Bergé, Elbaz next worked as creative director of Yves Saint Laurent beginning in 1998; he was brought on with the expectation of replacing Saint Laurent when the designer retired. Instead, after three seasons, Gucci bought the company and fired Elbaz in January 2000, making Tom Ford head designer instead for what proved an unsuccessful run (Ford retired from women's fashion in 2004). Elbaz began designing for Lanvin in 2001. He also held a minority stake in the company of nearly 18 percent. During his 14-year tenure, he was credited with the house's renewed appeal thanks to Elbaz's "classic with a twist" takes on silk cocktail dresses and other