Following the show that Azzedine Alaïa held for friends and clients in his Marais studio on Tuesday evening, one important detail begged confirmation: How many outfits did he send out this season? Sixty? Seventy?
The answer: upwards of 90 (see a selection of looks from the show by clicking the image on the left). By any measure, the offering could be described as generous. Compulsive even. Exactly one week earlier, Karl Lagerfeld showed nearly as many looks for his Chanel show, a mock protest staged by models marching on a Haussmannian boulevard replica within the Grand Palais. A performance of that scale demanded an equally ample collection.
But for Alaïa, the looks did not signal bravado as much as an ostinato of visual ideas—his way of repeating subtle variations on the same precise point of view enhanced by some noticeably new materials. This season, the standby fit-and-flounce Alaïa silhouettes appeared with raffia knitted into concentric coils around skirts and as a monochromatic jacquard in a vaguely Ottoman motif. Large embroidered dots punctuated Japanese poplin, and metallic thread bubbled up from dresses like beadwork. The designer also used a lattice-type grid of macramé lace as panels that bisected gently cinched shirtdresses. When lacquered, that same lace resembled laser-cut leather. A graphic knit motif of ovals had the effect of computer coding.
His workmanship with exotic skins seemed even more painstaking than usual. Apparently, a python jacket had been cut on the bias (we’re still wrapping our head around that one), and footwear featured perfect discs of silver-dusted galuchat. Even the crisp military-inspired grouping that opened his show held all sorts of savoir faire secrets. Into the waist of a khaki gabardine skirt, the designer inserted snippets of boning the length of collar stays. Zippers tucked within the vents offered added versatility. Later on, as a softer counterpoint, he placed ruffles just below the hip-hugging yoke of a skirt or edged a blouse in crenellated trim that began as a placket and ended as an extended collar.
When a streamlined white tennis dress and a fabulous knitted ruffle-legged jumpsuit can coexist in the same collection, the reason is simple: pourquoi pas. No wonder the audience erupted into applause and maintained it for many minutes: Enthusiasm begets enthusiasm. The variety clearly made an impression; it was as if each woman felt Alaïa had designed something just for her.
