Azzedine Alaïa Haute Couture F/W 11.12 Paris

[anarcobitch]

the second picture of Ginta. This dress is amazing!

 

[PoppyAzura]

Alaïa Opens Up His Universe
By SUZY MENKES

Published: July 7, 2011

PARIS — Dragged shyly from backstage by Frédéric Mitterrand, the French culture minister, Azzedine Alaïa emerged briefly at the end of a 10-minute standing ovation. The designer, whose intense and personal work is the nearest to the original spirit of Parisienne couture, closed the autumn 2011 season after eight years off the runway.

The track of Josephine Baker singing “Je suis snob” summed up perfectly what makes Mr. Alaïa stand out — and stand apart — from the rest of fashion. His clear vision, his precise cut and remarkable workmanship will not be tweeted across the cyberworld or live-streamed to corporate stores.



At the show Thursday, instead of the usual pen of photographers, there were just three: one for video, one for runway stills and one for poetic visions.
That made the offering more intense and personal as the designer introduced a new silhouette: a short jacket over a slim, long skirt, maybe with twin zippers tracing the curves at the rear.

There were also some reworkings of Mr Alaïa’s signature short full skirt, freshened by pairing it with a white cotton shirt. But the collection was less about silhouette than about how much was packed between the tracery of lines: tufts like errant weeds on the woolen surface of a skirt; tiny craters woven into a coat at the hipline; textures that included dense curly fur or gleaming crocodile. At the end of the show came a latticework dress where suede, velvet and silken ribbons were fused artfully together.

The attention to detail was all the more impressive because Mr. Alaïa works on his own to envisage the string straps on a velvet dress or the gilded squares on high-heeled brogues. Even the colors seemed rich and rare: wine darkening to eggplant and a deep leaf green that had the front row guest Donatella Versace, in vivid turquoise, gasping with excitement.

If the designer is a snob, it is only by looking down from his commanding position at the flat plain of global luxury.

Or as Mr. Mitterrand put it, to explain why this was the only show he chose to see during Paris couture week: “Designers all have a world — but Alaïa has a universe.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/f...pens-up-his-couture-universe.html?ref=fashion

 

[gossiping]

some gorgeous dresses in there

 

[LolaSvelt]

Please tell me I'm not the only one seeing something that was probably not intentional in all of those pieces with the oval-shaped pockets.

That aside this is kind of underwhelming. I'll never forget his Spring 2003 couture collection, which I believe was the last time he showed a couture collection. It blew me away, and still does. This seems a little"eh" by comparison.

Agreed. In fact, his clothes have been a little dull in the past few years ever since he started to become popular in Hollywood.

This collection kind of reminds me of Miu Miu Fall 2010.

 

[Luxx]

Please tell me I'm not the only one seeing something that was probably not intentional in all of those pieces with the oval-shaped pockets.

You are not alone.

I'm interested in seeing the remainder of the looks - my favorite pieces are the ones where he goes for broke in terms of opulence. The croc coats, the fur skirts, the almost overwhelmingly detailed final dress on Toni. It never gets overblown enough to fall into the couture trap of pointless ostentation, but these are clearly the finest and most sumptuous materials available.

 

[ADLET]

can anybody post picture in HQ

 

[missbluejean]

Funny you bring up RTW because I think that's what truly bothers me about this; it's a little too similar to what he does for his ready to wear. I guess the techniques are at a higher level, but on the surface there really isn't anything that's so different from what you find hanging in Barneys in any given season. They're beautiful clothes, but they're pretty anticlimactic.

I can only guess that this is what he meant with "semi-couture"

 

[Rigida]

I love this!!!

 

[pellucid]

HQs




vogue.co.uk

 

[pellucid]

...


vogue.co.uk

 

[JuiceMajor]

I would love to see all this in the shop! The technique must be amazing!

 

[TianSoFine]

I'm a bit disappointed by this collection. I actually find that certain pieces are slightly lacking in terms of precision.

 

[Alejandro]

the clothing is gorgeous and the only thing i'm disappointed over is the casting.....where's naomi and stephanie seymour? i honestly was expecting a tour de force show using all (or at least a few) of the supers...

 

[KaraDanielle11]

The coats are beautiful but yeah I agree there is something weird about some of the pockets.

 

[tricotineacetat]

the clothing is gorgeous and the only thing i'm disappointed over is the casting.....where's naomi and stephanie seymour? i honestly was expecting a tour de force show using all (or at least a few) of the supers...

Funny, I thought the same when I looked at the pictures. Those younger girls with their stick-thin, androgynous build don't quite pull of the clothes as well as when you'd see a more womanly model like Naomi Campbell in his dresses - which would actually give it even more credibility as these women are also faithful Alaia customers to begin with.

 

[jeremydante]

this looks like ready to wear to me.

 

[Vladita]

It's semi-couture so of course it'll look a little less elaborate than the full blown HC.

Btw this is only 3/5 of the collection (and the photos are out of order), there were around 40 looks in total.

Saying that it's "semi-couture" is never acceptable since Paris has a strict governing body, Chambre Syndicale, for HC shows and they have set of rules. Specifically in Paris, you can't just create a collection and say it's semi couture. HC should be HC and with Alaia's caliber, I don't think he'll present a collection and say it's a semi couture show.

The techniques are definitely present in this collection. But, HC has this special factor (and I don't mean OTT) that would distinct the designer's RTW collection from it. And to most posters here, it seems that that extra flavor is missing.

 

[style_expert]

Funny, I thought the same when I looked at the pictures. Those younger girls with their stick-thin, androgynous build don't quite pull of the clothes as well as when you'd see a more womanly model like Naomi Campbell in his dresses - which would actually give it even more credibility as these women are also faithful Alaia customers to begin with.

Joe McKenna did the styling, I bet he had a hand in the casting as well.
Interesting that Alaia did allow a stylist to work on the show.

 

[saann]

His spring 2003 collection was genius, I would find that very hard to top. One of the very first collections I fell in love with.

But I agree with everyone here, it reminds me too much of his last RTW collection. While nice it's a bit underwhelming.

But I do love that quote from the Menkes review:
Or as Mr. Mitterrand put it, to explain why this was the only show he chose to see during Paris couture week: “Designers all have a world — but Alaïa has a universe.”

 

[WilhelmF]

I just love Maud's look - the toughness of the jacket against those lovely ruffles...
A very exquisite collection. Even if it isn't a pompous HC presentation, these garments scream for real women to wear this.