Azzedine Alaia - The All-Things Azzedine Alaia Thread

[nike]

 

[nike]

 

[nike]

all from fashionologie

 

[nike]

A Look at Azzedine Alaia Fall 2010, Created Sans Moodboards, Sans Sketches

At 9 pm on the final day of Paris Fashion Week last week, Azzedine Alaia gathered weary editors, buyers, and even Jessica Stam to his studio in the Marais for an impromptu Fall 2010 presentation, complete with drinks and dinner.

The latest issue of LOVE features an interview with Alaia in that same studio, in which one of the designer's longtime assistants tries to explain the Alaia design process: "As his assistants we have never been asked to collect any documentation or anything like that. It is just his hands, the girl, the fabric and the pins. And he does not draw either. There might be a couple of notes to remember how something is tied, but never a drawing of a silhouette. So we do not know where it comes from." Alaia chimes in: "Oui. Oui-oui-oui. There are no moodboards and none of that.
I do not think about the clothes or about 'trends.' I just pick up the fabric and go to the girl and the ideas come." In addition to formulating his silhouettes, Alaia also does all of his pattern-cutting, leather work, embroidery, draping, pleating, and the invention of new fabrications himself.

In front of Alaia's studio work table is a giant 63-inch TV, on which he watches the National Geographic channel. He's transfixed by all the exotic places shown, but the designer, known for his 24/7 work schedule, says: "I really don’t have time to go out of the house and travel so much. I don’t have
another choice but to have a self-sufficient state here. I am hard on myself because I am hard on the people around me." That includes Naomi Campbell, who has known Alaia since she was 17 and refers to him as "Papa," who says: "I was in Paris last week and I stayed with him, I still do whenever I am there. He’s my family. But he is not soft on me either — and that’s how you know he is very real. For one thing if I am putting on weight he tells me immediately!" She laughs. "And he doesn’t hold back!"

-fashionologie

 

[nike]

Alaïa Time
By CATHY HORYN

On the very last night of Paris collections, at close to 9:30, the Azzedine Alaïa show got underway before a small crowd in his studio in the Marais. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres were passed. The designer’s St. Bernard was shown to his ample bed in the kitchen and the models hit the improvised runway in the showroom.

Mr. Alaïa doesn’t follow schedules, exactly, but editors and buyers keep an eye on him anyway, and he obliges with beautiful clothes that after a long show season always feel right. For years Barneys New York was synonymous with Alaïa. Then Saks added his label and now, for the last year or so, Bergdorf Goodman has been carrying his clothes, on the third floor, as well as his accessories.

“We were very persistent in trying to make this happen,” said Linda Fargo, the fashion director at Bergdorf. “We thought we couldn’t call ourselves a fashion authority without having Alaïa.”

From his new collection, Ms. Fargo praised the knits, which come in velour and deep jewel tones and patterns that vaguely suggest alligator and cheetah. “The beauty and the zen of Alaïa is how he quietly moves things along each season,” she said.

In a strong season for coats and tailoring, you will find a cropped wool jacket from him with a slightly nipped waist, and sheepskin coats and boleros in a deep brown that resemble beaver. The designer does not use fur.

For a couple of seasons Mr. Alaïa has been working with velvet and the fall show included a feather-light version (long and flowing with a crisscross back) that looked almost transparent. I thought the skirt of the gown might be chiffon but it was all velvet.

Another thing about Mr. Alaïa is that he always has something cooking—literally in the case of the dinner that he served after the show. But over the weekend, as buyers came to write orders, Mr. Alaïa continued to bring new pieces down from the ateliers on the upper floors of his vast building. One piece was a leather coat made from flexible strips of leather and tiny, almost invisible metal loops. Such couture pieces feed his imagination and the expert hands in his workroom.

thenewyorktimes

 

[happyguy]

Divine!!!

 

[Dkammern]

Created Sans Moodboards, Sans Sketches

that seriously would explain so much...
i mean, it's beautifully crafted and all, flattering, consistent, whatever...
but there is a reason why Alaia doesnt normally shows, and to me it is that his clothes, as a whole collection, have very little appeal on the runway.
if these are to be looked up close, to be seen enhancing the silhouettes of the so called "real women" like Franca Sozzani or Naomi (real is questionable here), or maybe even Michelle Obama, then it makes no sense to show every coat in every known color, and every dress with all it's neckline variations. It's redundant!
plus, it's not like his propositions change dramatically from one season to another so as to put on a show.
not having sketches and moodboards is denoted as something positive and "so different" from the rest of the designers, but to me it only shows how poorly the presentation is planned. So, he gets ahead from the pack by not doing sketches, and yet he presents the whole thing in the most unoriginal way (classic boring show: start by daywear and slowly progress until evening with all the shine and the long dresses at the end).
if you are not going to do it comme il faut, then why have a show at all, no?

 

[balmain1914]

i am not familiar with those models...someone can list them?

 

[Harumi]

From fashionista.com:

The new issue of Flaunt hits newsstands Monday, and while most copies will be covered with Kristen Stewart, a smaller run will feature Stephanie Seymour Inside, Long Nguyen interviews Azzedine Alaïa in his studio in Paris. The designer cooks and talks about his childhood, École des Beaux-arts and his time with Guy Laroche.
He says of fashion today, “There’s a fatigue in fashion, i think. Designer fashion is different now. Designers cannot create so many collections—cruise and pre-fall, accessories—when normally two-a-year is more than sufficient. A designer simply cannot invent something new every two months or so. It takes six months of research and work to build a new silhouette. i work until very late every morning since i do many things by myself. Personally, i know it’s not possible. That’s the reason why fashion today does not change very much. There is no time to think, to invent something new. You can no longer be excited or surprised. Rarely is there any freshness.”

While I agree with his point and I respect his work, I find ironic that this is coming from a man who has basically been designing variations of the same dress for 20 years.

BTW, you can see the gorgeous pictures accompanying the article here.

 

[rip_ian curtis]

For some reason I found the new collection a bit heavy and unsexy(!), especially the last part. maybe it's because of all the velvet and cocoon shapes that make it a bit Armani-ish...

 

[happyguy]

ha ha...i like his cocoon shape. it's so unexpected!!!! but the belts and the 50"s silhouette are still to die for!!!!

 

[missbluejean]

Vogue Paris August 2010
Ph: David Sims


scanned by Carla-A

 

[missbluejean]

UK Harper's Bazaar August 2010
Photographer: Michel Comte
Fashion Editor: Sophia Neophitou-Apostolou


scanned by Stereo_Flo

 

[Khoipond89]

From L'Officiel Accessories PG.2 Of Azzedine Alaia

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/7439/img00034201008051324.jpg



Photo Via my Blackberry

 

[justaguy]

BEAUTIFUL coats in #542

 

[missbluejean]

From the book Alaïa by Francois Baudot (Spring 1988)
Photographer: Peter Lindbergh
Models: Linda Evangelista, Marie-Sophie Wilson-Carr



levangelista

 

[missbluejean]

Alaïa: Double Take
By CATHY HORYN

Two or three evenings during the Paris ready-to-wear shows I visited Azzedine Alaïa. The first night, he was having a dinner party for his friend Jean Daniel, who writes about political affairs for Le Nouvel Observateur. The party was for Mr. Daniel’s 90th birthday and about 200 people—journalists, writers, former prime ministers, actors and a couple of models—crowded into the courtyard and atrium of Mr. Alaïa’s house in the Marais.

I went back a few nights later to see what he was working on for spring. On that evening, I arrived around 9 and went directly to the studio where he was fitting some knit dresses with his house model and the woman whose factory in Italy has been making his knit wear for the past 30 or more years. He stopped for dinner around 10:30 p.m. Everyone from the studio went down to the kitchen. When I left around midnight, Mr. Alaïa was back at work. An assistant told me a few days later he usually called it quits at 4 or 5 in the morning. I also dropped in on a Saturday afternoon and saw a number of visitors in the boutique, including Alexander Wang and Yasmin and Simon Le Bon. Mr. Alaïa happened to be passing through the boutique on his way back to the studio (he had a black python skirt in his hand) and Mr. Le Bon gave him a big bear hug.

“You haven’t changed at all,” Mr. Le Bon said.

Mr. Alaïa works in small, plodding, exact ways to perform miracles. This is a season of transparent fashion (haven’t you heard?), and Mr. Alaïa’s idea was to create a micro-dot lace sheath in white or black that could be worn over a lightweight, stretchy tube top and skirt in colors like coral or melon. Mr. Alaïa used the lace for several other styles, including a flared skirt, which he lined with a not-too-bright color.

You don’t really see much through the lace, or not as much as you might expect when you see a dress on the hanger. Anyway, it’s hard to beat the fit and proportions of a short-sleeve black lace dress, no matter what you end up putting under it. The seams went expertly down the back of the dress and then a couple of pleats sort of kicked out below the rear. What you notice, more than the see-though element, is just how right the dress looks.

Mr. Alaïa also used paper-thin black leather and python this season. He made some gathered skirts, jackets and notched vests with the leather, but he also combined the materials with a sheer fabric so that the pleats of a python skirt were both solid and transparent. It must feel like nothing to wear.

The collection also included some refined knit dresses, in tank styles, and skirts with subtle lacey effects. Many of the fabrics are Japanese, with a crispness that worked well for Mr. Alaïa’s culottes. I watched him fit a pair in faded salmon-red cotton. They are actually combined with an overskirt that is open at the back, so you can slide your hands in the pockets of the culottes.

His new shoes and sandals—some of which climb up the calf like a trellis—have rounded edges and lace details.

nytimes

 

[giancinephile]

I wish Alaia does menswear again.

I just saw some old photos of Peter Lindbergh and the male models were wearing Alaia!!!

It's gonna be a dream come true- Alaia menswear. haha

 

[mccanner]

can you post the picture of alaia menswear please!!!

 

[playcats]

Here you are, some pictures of Azzedine Alaia beautifully worn by Helena Christensen from a french Vogue some yers ago...

pictures scanned by me