This exhibition was one of the best fashion exhibitions I have seen in a long, long time. The newly renovated Palais Galliera, formally known as the Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, is honouring the Tunisian-born couturier Azzedine Alaïa in his first retrospective in the city. The exhibition showcases a selection of over seventy designs, as well as some iconic models displayed below murals by Henri Matisse in the Musee d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, just across the road. The remarkable thing about the exhibition is the mannequins- barely visible and bespoke to each outfit- which show-off how the garment would fit on a real person.
Throughout his career Alaïa has shunned trends and seasons in favour of creating made-to-measure ‘garments that last’. He started out by dressing legendary figures such as Louise de Vilmorin, Arletty and Greta Garbo and encouraged by his friend Thierry Mugler, he presented his first signature collection in 1979. His draping of bodies with jersey and stretch fabrics is an allusion to his sculpture studies at art school in Tunis: ‘When I’m working on a garment, it has to flow over the body, in profile and in back view’. His talent lies in drawing a pattern, transferring directly onto cloth the forms and volumes he saw in his mind’s eye, then cutting and sewing the fabric to perfectly fit the female form. On show in the exhibition are outfits made famous by Naomi Campbell, Tina Turner and Yasmin Le Bon.
In 1985, he won two Fashion Oscars in Paris and later in 2000 his work was exhibited alongside paintings by Andy Warhol, who had his first exhibition in the same rooms at the Palais Galliera. Now, standing next to another great, Matisse, it is clear just how much both artist and fashion designer know about shaping female forms and fluid volumes.
