Azzedine Alaïa dressing Grace Jones for the 1985 Oscars de la Mode. Rex
A month to the day after announcing the passing of the beloved Tunisian couturier Azzedine Alaïa, the house he built has released a statement announcing its continuation. It began with a quote from the master: “My obsession is to make women beautiful. When you create with that in mind, things can’t go out of fashion.” From this idea, the house announced that it would continue Alaïa‘s legacy with a number of events and exhibitions. Late January, during Haute Couture week, a tribute exhibition of his couture creations will be held at his atelier in the Marais neighborhood of Paris.
The new ready-to-wear and accessories collection will be showcased in January and March 2018. In Spring 2018, London will host an exhibition “Azzedine Alaïa: the Couturier” at the London Design Museum. The 139 New Bond Street – the first flagship in London for the Maison will also open in the Spring. Its opening confirms that the house will go on in the absence of its couturier and suggests that a new creative director will at one point be named.
Mr. Alaïa was an avid collector of art, design, and fashion, throughout the better part of fifty years. The Association Azzedine Alaïa, founded with painter Christophe Von Weyhe and his friend of more than 40 years Carla Sozzani will become the Foundation Azzedine Alaïa. The collection and eventual foundation will remain at Alaïa’s Marais atelier, where he worked and lived. It will regularly feature the couturier’s work as well as showcase history of fashion and design exhibitions, along with a library of fashion and cultural history for research and development, and offer fashion scholarships.
