As you may have seen last week, sneak-peak images ofLavin’sfall 2012 campaign surfaced online with luxury fashion bloggers and readers echoing, “Who’s that girl?” The Lavin campaign highlights women of all ages, styles and sizes. But one ad in particular caught the attention of the luxury fashion world and went viral. There was speculation that woman in question was an industry insider, family friend or someone who must clearly have a close relationship with Alber Elbaz. Some even falsely identified the beauty as supermodel China Machado. But, as WWD reveals, it’s none of the above.
So who is the mysterious lady in the above ad? Her name has yet to be seen, but according to the trade she is 80 years-old and a previous “showgirl at the Apollo.” She reportedly told the designer that it had always been her dream to go to Paris and model–and now thanks to Elbaz, that dream came to fruition.
The ads will officially be released in September issues in France, U.S., Italy, Great Britain, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Russia and Brazil, with women’s-only spots running in Germany, Spain, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Middle East.
