The significance of Alber Elbaz's great contributions will not be lost; they will live on in the history of fashion and in the wardrobes of the women who continue to wear and treasure his clothes.

The news that Alber Elbaz has passed away from Covid-19 is an immeasurable loss to his family, to all those who worked for him, to the women he loved, and to those who derived so much joy from the clothes he designed.

Of all the designers in the world today, Alber is unique in that he is gentle, emotionally intelligent and empathetic, that he can see through the absurdity of fashion and liberate women from it, that he sees us as friends, and that his entire approach is based on these personal qualities.

Whether you knew him or not, he was thoughtful, witty, and lighthearted -- his candid, free-flowing, quick-witted style of conversation always made everyone in the audience feel like they had a two-way relationship with him. "We're not here to reform women, we're here to embrace them," he said recently.

These uplifting, comforting and incredibly inspiring words come from a Zoom video call Alber made in January, the last time I spoke with him, along with my colleague Nicole Phelps, global director of Vogue Runway.

He was telling us about his much-anticipated comeback, the launch of AZ Factory. This new brand of his promised to tackle the problems of the fashion establishment in a whole new way, offering women a modern collection "based on solutions" - which makes his death all the more heartbreaking.

Trying to do justice to his achievements, measure his contribution to fashion, and include so many indelible memories of such a complex and remarkable figure in this single article is simply an impossible task.

What makes him unique, I think, is first of all how he sees his role as a designer: not as a genius who comes up with lofty concepts out of thin air and shoves them down our throes, but as an ally who puts the full power of his craft and social insights at the service of women's real-life experiences. "Embracing everything about the moment, about women's lives, gives people joy," he thundered.

Down-to-earth, modest people, in the end can achieve brilliant. There are many Alber mannerisms on the Internet. He talks and quips in the video, and can be witty and serious in the same live commentary; He questioned the speed of the industry, resolutely defended practical analog skills and intimacy, and embraced every shock of digital and scientific information development, but always held fast to his human-centered values.

It's the women I want to see. I want to know what they're like." His mission, he says, is to "make the clothes disappear." It's like being in a building. When you walk into a room, even if it was designed by a brilliant architect, you don't want to say 'beautiful building'. You almost want it to feel like nothing. I'm going to make a piece that will eventually disappear. I just want to see the face of women."

But the significance of Alber's great contributions will not be lost; they will live on in the history of fashion and in the wardrobes of the women who continue to wear and treasure his clothes.

I first met Alber in 2002, during his first season as creative director of Lanvin in Paris. It was one of those moments when you know viscerally that a designer is about to change the axis of fashion. Everything that women truly love is there: the jewels that hang from the top of the skirts and coats, the fur-trimmed chiffon fabric that is cut and knotted in clever three-dimensional ways into tutus as if they had just been born; Under his fashionable tailoring, plain reality is sublimated.

"There's a fine line between flashy design and aspirational sophistication...... Excellent balance between edgy and gentle, "I wrote on my laptop as I rushed back after the show.

Lanvin was unknown at the time.

Mr. Alber cataputed the house to center stage in Paris, turning it into a hot brand and building on the design elements of that first season, so that women began flocking to its stores.

There were always his "permanent" dresses, made of luxurious puffy taffeta and flowing silks; Crystal beads set in the neckline; Heavy zippers set in grosgrain strips; Pencil skirt and wrap coat. While it may seem thrilling and exciting, all of these designs are in step with women's trends - and he has always wisely created them with practical function in mind.

During Paris Fashion Week, he sometimes explains his approach to design to journalists in a presentation at a salon panel at the Rosewood Hotel.

He demonstrates how he thinks about making clothes that can adapt to the rapidly changing demands of women's lives in different situations. He asked for advice. He talks about what he's learned from friends who describe the pressure they face every day -- juggling kids, work, cocktails and dinners while trying to look completely confident and appropriate in a half-hour.

Designers often say they are inspired by their 'love of women'. And Alber's love is the kind that really sees their needs.

His ability to empathize deeply with the needs of others did not come from nowhere. Dating back to before his tenure at Lanvin - which ended in 2015 - Alber worked in the womenswear department at Yves Saint Laurent from 1998 to 2001, before working for Guy Laroche, and before coming to Paris, He has worked for Geoffrey Beene in New York since 1989. Before he came to Lanvin, he had been immersed in haute couture culture for more than a decade.

But really, it all started in Alber's childhood. Born in 1961 in Casablanca, Morocco, Alber's parents emigrated with their family to the Israeli town of Holon, outside Tel Aviv, when he was 8 months old.

His father was a hair colorist. He once told me how he first became interested in clothes, and I think his story is one of the most moving I've heard from a designer of similar initial memories. "We have no money for toys.

The only toy in the house is a chess set. As a child I took the tinfoil my father used to dye my hair and started making clothes for all the chess pieces - I made up characters for them and played for hours."

At school, he drew fashion illustrations on textbooks, inspired by his favorite class teacher. Eventually, he came to study at the Shenkar Institute of Textile Technology and Fashion, but not before serving in the Israel Defense Forces. The story of how young Alber spent his years in the military, like everything else he told me, showed that he would become a creative and kind man.

I have asthma, so they put me in charge of entertaining the soldiers. I see a lot of people who are lonely when they leave home - and I see a lot of women who are lonely in old people's homes, "he laughs," so what I do is I get them together every week and arrange for them to dance." Everyone was so happy!

It is impossible to imagine how many people around the world have been touched by the joy and happiness that Alber Elbaz brought to their lives during his 59 years. Most importantly, our hearts go out to Alex Koo, his life partner, for his tragic loss. The fashion world cannot thank Alber enough for his great contribution. Those of us who were fortunate enough to know him, and all who enjoyed wearing his designs, will forever cherish the precious memories he left us.