Azzedine Alaïa S/S 2021 Paris

[vogue28]

VOGUE.COM

 

[vogue28]

VOGUE.COM

 

[Phuel]

The easygoing and casual dresses and skirts still retain some of that Alaia magic with their flirty, breezy and sunny effortless, eternal appeal. (…Unfortunate to see a Talbot’s beige suiting jacket and shorts combo sneaked in there…). But the casting of girls with mousy hair and a bald head is so unfortunate. Even more unfortunate are the horrendous hausfrau-discount footwear. The overall image is too girl-shopping-at-the-local-grovery-store for my taste. Rather dream of the golden days of that dream team Naomi/Veronica/Beverly/Yasmeen/Christy/Nadege cheekily sashaying down the catwalk in all their gleaming, lean and mean sleekness.

 

[YohjiAddict]

I've always thought Alaïa was only for Women wanting to feel powerful and in control, not for girls waiting coyly for their Lifetime movie™ prince charming, which is what I'm getting from this lookbook. Isn't Alaïa crazy expensive? Do women wear it with flats and messy hair?

 

[TianCouture]

why is this shot like a ba&sh look book? i expect maturity from AA

 

[dior_couture1245]

Just go watch the Alaia Spring 2003 Couture collection and then look at this again. It's silly to even compare.

 

[WAVES]

this is not Alaïa.

 

[Lola701]

I prefer Alaia for winter but there are some cute pieces. It needs a better cast!

I've always thought Alaïa was only for Women wanting to feel powerful and in control, not for girls waiting coyly for their Lifetime movie™ prince charming, which is what I'm getting from this lookbook. Isn't Alaïa crazy expensive? Do women wear it with flats and messy hair?

Women do wear Alaia with flats and messy hair...Just look at Camille Miceli!

 

[Phuel]

^^^ Yes— but a touch of high fashion wouldn’t hurt for the showing.

You’re in a much more authority position to speak of the current-Alaia branding strategy than I will ever be sine you’ve been a lifelong customer. And as much as Alaia has never relied on multi-million dollar campaigns and glossy strategic placements in publications and on celebrities to sell the brand, his all-out shows with a cast of the most gorgeous women in the world, yet full of warmth and realness, are still legendary and relevant to this day. Casting his friends Naomi/Veronica/Beverly/Nadege for this lookbook showing would have done wonders…

(Alaia is very versatile in how many diverse personalities— and diverse body sizes his fashions compliment: That very pretty white sundress with the bright peplum is a perfect example of Alaia accommodating women of all ages and even more curvy women [but let’s get real and not expect borderline-obese bodies like American Vogue is currently celebrating to look great in this].)

 

[jeanclaude]

Launching girlie cute clothes at Alaïa feels like trying to sell Hello Kitty merchandise at a fetish shop: totally out of place!!

This feels like "Alaïa Junior" or "Alaïa for kids"...but the problem is that Alaïa clothes were for adult, sophisticated women.

And sex was veery present on his work!

blogspot.com

 

[Lola701]

^^^ Yes— but a touch of high fashion wouldn’t hurt for the showing.

You’re in a much more authority position to speak of the current-Alaia branding strategy than I will ever be sine you’ve been a lifelong customer. And as much as Alaia has never relied on multi-million dollar campaigns and glossy strategic placements in publications and on celebrities to sell the brand, his all-out shows with a cast of the most gorgeous women in the world, yet full of warmth and realness, are still legendary and relevant to this day. Casting his friends Naomi/Veronica/Beverly/Nadege for this lookbook showing would have done wonders…

(Alaia is very versatile in how many diverse personalities— and diverse body sizes his fashions compliment: That very pretty white sundress with the bright peplum is a perfect example of Alaia accommodating women of all ages and even more curvy women [but let’s get real and not expect borderline-obese bodies like American Vogue is currently celebrating to look great in this].)

I remember in one comment about a Tom Ford collection, someone said that he/she loves the idea of the Tom Ford woman but kinda feels underwhelm by the reality of it...

It’s slightly the same with Alaia. What attracted me and I think it’s the same for all of us and even for the historic clients is the sexuality, the leather, the sensuality, the anatomical cuts, that fashion incarnated by glamazons. Alaia and it mythology has always been about women, strong independent women who owned their sexuality (even if a lot of times, men simply liked seeing their women in skin tight clothes).

Overtime, the brand evolved into something else. I was really into Alaia during the late 00’s because it still had that grown woman feel to it but today, I’m more into rééditions of his past success. An Alaia dress like the ones in this collection are timeless but they don’t have the risque touch we all love but if we are honest, it’s been a longtime since Alaia had that touch...Even when the master was alive.

Those are clothes that Carla Sozzani can wear. I can see Victoire De Castellane in it or even Naomi in an off duty look but can we imagine Carine in one of those looks? No!
I think now we have the disconnect between the fashion and the spirit. The spirit of Alaia is maybe somewhere else but the fashion is still there. This is a collection meant to appeal to a larger audience: the mothers shopping for their daughters. After all, you can have a simple Alaia dress for 1500€...

 

[JohannesL]

I always have a soft spot for Alaia, but this collection is underwhelming. I would rather them to release Alaia’s archive than presenting this juvenile version of Alaia. In my mind, the Alaia woman is powerful and sophisticated with the subtlety of her sensuality and sexuality. Maybe time to bring someone new or stay in business with the maestro’s archive pieces.

 

[Lola701]

I always have a soft spot for Alaia, but this collection is underwhelming. I would rather them to release Alaia’s archive than presenting this juvenile version of Alaia. In my mind, the Alaia woman is powerful and sophisticated with the subtlety of her sensuality and sexuality. Maybe time to bring someone new or stay in business with the maestro’s archive pieces.

That’s exactly what they are doing. Alaia today might be presented in juvenile models but all the designs and silhouettes are either archives, classics with new prints or unreleased prototypes developed by Azzedine. The Alaia of our memories or fantasies hasn’t been a reality for a longtime. If you go back to his last few collections, it was far from sensual..

I think they are doing a great job at Alaia.

 

[kasper!]

The setting is really cheap, too Instagram, almost feels like Alaïa for Mango. Some aura is missing.

 

[Phuel]

That’s exactly what they are doing. Alaia today might be presented in juvenile models but all the designs and silhouettes are either archives, classics with new prints or unreleased prototypes developed by Azzedine. The Alaia of our memories or fantasies hasn’t been a reality for a longtime. If you go back to his last few collections, it was far from sensual..

I think they are doing a great job at Alaia.

Absolutely. There are quite a few Alaia signatures in this offering: The embroidery, the easygoing separates, the fringes… As separates, it’s truer to the Alaia classic silhouette of a flirty, fun, unfussy and sunny Super than Azzedine’s later collections, frankly. It’s just the (re)branding with the Mango-esque aesthetic (thanks @kasper!) that’s a huge turnoff. A Super in sleeker and more worthy footwear would have done wonders in these pieces… Or just go barefoot, like Naomi here: