6/29/23
Today, we will be visiting the Foundation of Azzedine Alaia. For anyone who don’t know who is, Azzedine Alaia was a popular fashion designer in the 80s and he worked with several different celebrities. Which included supermodel Naomi Campbell who was known to be his Muse. During his career, he did a collaboration with photographer Arthur Elgort. Together, they “both actively contributed to the renewal of the representation of a now assertive, determined, independent woman.” Luckily, their work was also on display at Alaia’s foundation. Unfortunately, Alaia did passed away on November 18, 2017.
Thankfully, the foundation displayed several pieces of his worked. Overall, I would describe is style as structure and minimalistic, yet feminine and elegant. Personally, I love his work! I love how you can wear any of his pieces today and you won’t stick out. If I could, I would buy all of his design. Additionally, it was interesting to learn how he worked as a designer. In other words, Azzedine Alaia did not follow the rules by not following seasonal trends or the fashion calendar. He cultivated his own style and released it whenever he wanted. Normally, if a designer would do that, they would not last very long. The key to his success was that he worked with several well-known celebrities and catered to their own needs. For example, Naomi Campbell was very conscious of her midsection. Alaia made sure to take focus away from her midsection and cinched in her waist. As a result, Naomi had an hourglass shape. Before, all the designers that I knew typically followed the same path for success. Even if they did something different, like follow different trends, their brand usually decline over time. Azzedine Alaia was the first designer that I knew that choose a different route and still became famous.
Overall, not only did I learn about a new designer, but I enjoyed seeing some of his work. I hope I can visit the Foundation of Azzedine Alaia again in the future!
Paris 