Azzedine Alaia - The All-Things Azzedine Alaia Thread

[TianSoFine]

Wow, these dresses are really works of art.
Alaia for Dior sounds so good!

 

[i82be34u]

I need some help to identify some top models (sorry about that...it was almost 20 years ago) on Alaïa backstage pictures...may I ask help here? or will I be fired because it's pictures I have done and publish on my blog? Hope not and hope someone could help.

 

[Empress of Dress]

Naomi Campbell for Fashion Relief

Naomi Campbell in Azzedine Alaia for fashion relief japan in Cannes.

 

[missbluejean]

^^^

Guess who got called about the Dior job?
June 20, 2011 10:05 am by Vanessa Friedman (ft.com)

In all the rumours floated about who would be the next big creative director at Dior, from names old (Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci, Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz, Vuitton’s Marc Jacobs) to new-ish (Haider Ackerman and Sarah Burton) one that hasn’t been mentioned but has, I discovered, actually been called, is perhaps the most surprising of all: Azzedine Alaia. I had heard whispers, but he just confirmed it.

To be fair, from a sheer talent point of view, this is not surprising: Mr Alaia is often voted by his peers one of the most influential designers ever (really ever; not just of the 20th century), and has been building a house of singular vision for decades.

He is also one of the last hands-on couturiers, beloved by his atelier. Part of the conundrum facing Dior is they need a designer who can work with the couture, and most youngsters, brought up on ready-to-wear, don’t have the know-how.

Besides, two Dior muses, costume jeweller Camille Miceli and fine jeweller Victoire de Castellane, are often clad head-to-toe in Alaia. So you could well understand why the Dior folks might have thought of Azzedine for the top job at the big jewel in their particular crown.

But here’s the thing: Mr Alaia has been perhaps the most vocal advocate of all living designers about the need to change the fashion system, to slow it down, to stop the relentless demand for more collections and more store openings. Years ago he stopped having official fashion shows, and started showing, and delivering to stores, only when he was ready as opposed to when the schedule dictates. And one of the houses that most embodies that continuous pressure is Dior; indeed, when former designer John Galliano imploded, the pressures of the system were cited as major contributing factors.

Plus, of course, there are the small details that Dior rival Richemont actually owns a chunk of the Alaia business and has been helping create the designer’s archive (otherwise, he says, “they leave me alone”), and that the designer himself is in his 70s.

Since I would never under-estimate Bernard Arnault, chairman of Dior (which actually owns LVMH), nor CEO Sidney Toledano, however, this makes me wonder if perhaps the group has some interesting plans to change the way it does business up its sleeve, and will use the new designer as an excuse to do so.

If so, it would be a revolution that would have an enormous ripple effect on the whole fashion industry. My guess is other brands would immediately fall in behind; everyone is looking for a reason to change and slow down, but everyone is scared to be the brand that sticks its neck out.

In a way, having a more mature designer at the helm who could act as an agent of change and then hand a new regime over to posterity makes sense. And for this, I guess Dior/LVMH would relax their current thinking about not letting a designer continue his or her own line once they take on a heritage name, as I can’t imagine Mr Alaia closing his house for Dior – though I can imagine the enormous premiums Richemont would exact if Dior tried to buy them out.

Anyway, in the end it’s moot, because Mr Alaia wasn’t interested. Flattered, but not about to pursue. The story of what happened with John was a sad story, he said when I asked him, and he didn’t want to be part of the next chapter. And that’s even before you got to the other stuff.

The sheer fact that the Dior leadership was thinking this way does, however, make me think the field may be more open than the fashion world suspects. Goody.

 

[thejarc]

Seems like someone at LVMH has been reading tFS

 

[mikeijames]

i bet a lot of people feel silly right now. but what an accolade for azzedine....

 

[Boomer]

THIS could start a HUGE grudge fight, no??


Azzedine Alaïa Says ‘No One’ Will Remember Anna Wintour ‘In the History of Fashion’–The Feud Continues
By Dhani Mau
Thursday, Jun 23, 2011 / 9:53 AM

• Iconic designer Azzedine Alaïa, who is often an outspoken critic of the fashion industry, just ripped apart two of its biggest power players: Karl Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour. Alaïa has had a longstanding feud with Wintour–in 2009, when he was omitted from the “Model as Muse” exhibit at the Met’s Costume Institute, he told WWD that Wintour “behaves like a dictator and everyone is terrified of her.”

In a candid interview with Virgine Magazine, Alaïa also talks about Galliano (whose job at Dior he reportedly turned down), blaming his troubles on the “system” of the fashion industry. But, it’s his digs at Karl Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour that made us go, “Wow, he went there.” He essentially calls the Kaiser a “caricature” who has “never touched a pair of scissors in his life” and Anna a business person with no taste who everyone fears. All that hate is fine because, as he repeatedly states throughout the interview, women love him! Read on to find out what he really thinks about Anna, Karl, Galliano and more.

On Galliano:

Now, [the fashion industry] has become crafty fiddling at a breakneck pace. That’s not the essence of fashion. How can you really be creative under these circumstances? For the young designers it’s very hard, and for the more mature, they drink more, take more drugs… what I am saying is that the system is not right. We have to see the work from another angle. The system is too stressful: too many collections, too much pressure.
​

On Suing Herve Leger over his zipped Arrietty dress:

Now, Hervé Léger says that he is the one to have created the concept of the zipped dress. He better keep it low, because I could sue him! [Laughs.]
​

On Karl Lagerfeld:

Happily, women love me and buy my clothes, unlike Karl who’s never been loved like me! [Laughs.]
I don’t like his fashion, his spirit, his attitude. It’s too much caricature. Karl Lagerfeld never touched a pair of scissors in his life. That doesn’t mean that he’s not great, but he’s part of another system. He has capacity. One day he does photography, the next he does advertisements for Coca-Cola. I would rather die than see my face in a car advertisement. We don’t do the same work.
​

And finally, on Vogue‘s Editor in Chief:

She runs the business (Vogue) very well, but not the fashion part. When I see how she is dressed, I don’t believe in her tastes one second. I can say it loudly! She hasn’t photographed my work in years even if I am a best seller in the U.S. and I have 140 square meters at Barneys. American women love me; I don’t need her support at all. Anna Wintour doesn’t deal with pictures; she is just doing PR and business, and she scares everybody. But when she sees me, she is the scared one. [Laughs.] Other people think like me, but don’t say it because they are afraid that Vogue won’t photograph them. Anyway, who will remember Anna Wintour in the history of fashion? No one. Take Diana Vreeland, she is remembered because she was so chic. What she did with the magazine was great, with Avedon and all the great photographers.
​

Let this be a lesson: don’t mess with Alaïa. He’s, like, a totally important designer.


Fashionista

 

[scratchBOOK]

o lawd...he really went there
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Boomer]

^ Hah! He thinks he was shunned and blacklisted before!!??

 

[La bordélique]

Those comments make me love him even more!

 

[Squizree]

lol the beef between him and Anna W is amusing.

I agree with him about Karl Lagerfeld, but not about Anna W.

 

[HeatherAnne]

I don’t like his fashion, his spirit, his attitude. It’s too much caricature.

For the win!
​

 

[fashionandfrank]

Is there any place he is carried online?

Net a porter carry the shoes bags and belts online

In London Browns and Joseph both carry his line and Browns do sometimes online too - he is a genius!

 

[missbluejean]

^^ It seems that he really has a bitter relationship with Anna for the longest time. As I said in the other thread, I don't get why he only resents Vogue alone when other American publications also do the same thing.

btw, I thought the reason why Vogue doesn't feature his clothes is because HE refuses to loan to them?

 

[Squizree]

^ No it was mainly because of the MET issue a couple of years ago. On top of that, Anna W never really featured him as extensively as other designers in Vogue. I believe there was beef before the MET issue, but that kinda drove it to the point of no return. I wonder what will happen when she leaves.

 

[Ives927]

He sounded like an A-hole, but what he said about Karl is true. Anna, on the other hand, seemed more like a personal attack than anything. No one will remember Anna? I don't think so.

 

[missbluejean]

^^ Yes, Alaia hasn't been featured in editorials for years now. They do mention his name in some articles though.

He said in one of his old interviews that there's this American magazine who mislabeled his dress and after that, they stopped loaning them clothes. I always assumed it was Vogue - maybe not.

Of course that MET Gala debacle certainly didn't help.

 

[Alejandro]

Those comments make me love him even more!

me too...

 

[educo]

God Bless Azzedine Alaia!!!

 

[ForChicSake]

God Bless Azzedine Alaia!!!

I'll drink to that!