Azzedine Alaia (1935–2017) was not only a world-renowned fashion designer but also an avid collector of vintage fashion. Now a major exhibition at the Palais Galliera, Paris, Azzedine Alaia showcases the extensive collection he built up over the decades, driven by his fascination with the history of couture and his desire to conserve its heritage for future generations.
Accumulated in utmost secrecy and never revealed during his lifetime, the sumptuous selection of garments ranges from the nineteenth-century elegance of Jacques Doucet and the House of Worth to the names that shaped twentieth-century fashion—Chanel, Balenciaga, Dior, Schiaparelli—and contemporary innovators such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Alexander McQueen.
Captured in specially taken photographs, these meticulously crafted pieces are a tribute to Alaia’s unerring tastes, to the couturiers who inspired and influenced him, and to his endless respect for the craftspeople who created such objects of lasting beauty.
Contributors
Miren Arzalluz
Author
Miren Arzalluz is director of the Palais Galliera, and former curator and head of collections at Fundación Cristóbal Balenciaga.
Olivier Saillard
Author
Olivier Saillard is a fashion historian and director of the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation.
