Azzedine Alaïa. The Eye of the Collector

Of all the couturiers and designers he admired, those whose architectural designs for dresses, jackets and coats most vividly came to life always held his attention. In a family that included Madeleine Vionnet, Jeanne Lanvin, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Charles James, Adrian, Claire McCardell, Madame Grès, Jacques Fath, Christian Dior, Comme des Garçons, Jean Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler, Azzedine Alaïa wrote his own history of fashion, one governed by the sovereignty of lines and the craft of cutting.

Other names and other labels, some of which have since been forgotten, equally caught his observant eye. In the clothes he kept of them, a single guiding principle underlay his choices. Whether simple or, on the contrary, elaborated to form a complex harmony, the creations found their way into his collection through their skilled application of techniques.

The patterns and architectural toiles are the building blocks that Azzedine Alaïa employed with such mastery. He also collected them as illustrations of a discipline he liked to situate between the Academy of Sciences and sartorial poetics.

The exhibition Azzedine Alaïa. The Eye of the Collector looks back on this practice and this passion, bringing together works by Azzedine Alaïa himself, stages in his work process that bear witness to this passion, and a collection of designs by the great masters of couture. The exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Foundation Azzedine Alaïa.