Threaded
Renaissance Perspective
Part of Azzedine Alaïa: The Couturier
(May to October 2018)
Combining sensuality with nobility, Azzedine Alaïa prized velvet for its lustrous surface and tactility, for its innate ability to hide a complex web of seams in its pile, and for its connections to the richness of the past. Alaïa often used velvet in black, but also jewel-like tones of ruby red or deep blue reminiscent of Renaissance dresses. Alaïa succeeded in modernising velvet and lightening the fabric. He created featherweight stretch velour knits that mimicked the nap of velvet, and a semi-transparent velvet that seemed like a hybrid with chiffon.
These garments are presented on a series of dress forms designed by Alaïa himself. Originally based on the proportions of the supermodel Naomi Campbell, over the years Alaïa transformed these mannequins, turning them into sculptural objects in their own right. Every tweak in proportion required the garments to be entirely reconstructed, their patterns redrafted. In their final incarnation, these figures are elongated to resemble both the sculpture of Alberto Giacometti and the exaggerated proportions of fashion illustrations.
Conceived and co-curated with Monsieur Alaïa before his death in November 2017, the exhibition charts his incredible journey from sculptor to couturier, his nonconformist nature and his infectious energy for fashion, friendship and the female body.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Alaïa personally constructed each garment by hand and refused to bow to the pressures of fashion week deadlines, instead working to his own schedule. His collaborative approach earned him an esteemed client list, including Greta Garbo, Grace Jones, Michelle Obama and Rihanna.
Rather than a retrospective, the show interlaces stories of his life and career alongside personally selected garments, ranging from the rare to the iconic and spanning the early 1980s to his most recent collection in 2017.
[Design Museum]
Threaded
Renaissance Perspective
Part of Azzedine Alaïa: The Couturier
(May to October 2018)
Combining sensuality with nobility, Azzedine Alaïa prized velvet for its lustrous surface and tactility, for its innate ability to hide a complex web of seams in its pile, and for its connections to the richness of the past. Alaïa often used velvet in black, but also jewel-like tones of ruby red or deep blue reminiscent of Renaissance dresses. Alaïa succeeded in modernising velvet and lightening the fabric. He created featherweight stretch velour knits that mimicked the nap of velvet, and a semi-transparent velvet that seemed like a hybrid with chiffon.
These garments are presented on a series of dress forms designed by Alaïa himself. Originally based on the proportions of the supermodel Naomi Campbell, over the years Alaïa transformed these mannequins, turning them into sculptural objects in their own right. Every tweak in proportion required the garments to be entirely reconstructed, their patterns redrafted. In their final incarnation, these figures are elongated to resemble both the sculpture of Alberto Giacometti and the exaggerated proportions of fashion illustrations.
Conceived and co-curated with Monsieur Alaïa before his death in November 2017, the exhibition charts his incredible journey from sculptor to couturier, his nonconformist nature and his infectious energy for fashion, friendship and the female body.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Alaïa personally constructed each garment by hand and refused to bow to the pressures of fashion week deadlines, instead working to his own schedule. His collaborative approach earned him an esteemed client list, including Greta Garbo, Grace Jones, Michelle Obama and Rihanna.
Rather than a retrospective, the show interlaces stories of his life and career alongside personally selected garments, ranging from the rare to the iconic and spanning the early 1980s to his most recent collection in 2017.
[Design Museum]