Alber Elbaz considered quitting fashion to be a doctor.
The 53-year-old designer felt “depressed” when he first started working for Yves Saint Laurent and trawled the fashion house’s archives for inspiration, but when he was fired from the label three years later, he felt like a “widow” and debated taking a new career path.
He said: “After spending one month with the [YSL] archives, I said, ‘What can I do,’ because [Saint Laurent] had done it all. I told my psychologist, ‘I’m depressed. Saint Laurent was depressed.’
“She asked if I was a jealous person. I’m not. I’m a little jealous when people eat and don’t gain weight.
“I understand why he created what he did and I understood his customers. Three years later when I was fired, I felt like a widow. I thought I didn’t want to do fashion. I considered becoming a doctor, but I’m a hypochondriac.”
When he isn’t working hard in his role as Lanvin’s artistic director, Alber enjoys relaxing by watching ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’.
Speaking to Alina Cho at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he admitted: “Morocco is a country that I love. People don’t have water in their houses, but they have satellites so they can watch ‘The Kardashians’.
“After work, I’m watching ‘The Kardashians’ and ordering pizza.”
And Alber is a particularly big fan of Kim Kardashian West.
He said: “I think she’s a true, nice person. She wore Lanvin for her first Vogue cover. She’s a role model. She’s a smart girl.”
