Pieter Mulier - Designer, Creative Director of Alaïa

[blueorchid]

Is it Pieter’s fault all that knowledge is “lost” now?

 

[Cocteau Stone]

Azzedine Alaïa by Joe McKenna | Documentary​

so sad all this knowledge is lost and we are left with is a Ikea version of all this technic, craft, mind & huge effort to make and experiment & beautiful modern clothes

Requirements have changed, and when Azzedine passed, so did that oeuvre that was so quintessential to his way of working and viewing of the world.

Pieter… has his way of working. But he isn’t really the one to blame for this. Systems have changed and so did Alaïa as a house. Sure the original values would be great in this fashion-sphere, but with the original man gone I just don’t think it’s ever going to be the same.

As an aside, what I’ve always loved about Azzedine is that not only did he treat it as a loving, temperamental atelier, but also as a technical guild. Something rather old fashioned, despite the outputs being so sublime and contemporary.

 

[blueorchid]

@Cocteau Stone I think people forget how "trades" like this are actually passed on from one generation to the next... you know, apprenticeships, training, etc. People just aren't BORN knowing how to do this stuff. They've gotta learn and if the old guard isn't willing to teach, well, here we are.

 

[tatouejeremie]

actually, azzedine alaia had someone who worked extremely closely with him for years - hideki seo, his first assistant and from what i know it always seemed like alaia was preparing him to take over at one point.
you’d think he’d be the natural successor, but either he didn’t want the job, or he was passed over for someone more industry-friendly. either way, it’s a real loss that everything hideki likely learned from alaia is no longer part of the company.

edit: just found out he actually passed away as well, so sad.

 

[Lola701]

Azzedine Alaïa by Joe McKenna | Documentary​

so sad all this knowledge is lost and we are left with is a Ikea version of all this technic, craft, mind & huge effort to make and experiment & beautiful modern clothes

The knowledge is not lost. It’s just miss-used to make contemporary Art design project. It’s not at the service of making clothes anymore.

Pieter has a totally competent atelier. When YSL closed his house and when Lacroix also closed his house, some seamstresses went to Azzedine so in terms of passing generations of craftsmanship, the house is secured. I mean the non-sense design project Pieter is conducting is also impressive in terms of pure technique.

What was interesting about Azzedine was that all that technique was used in perfecting rather than inventing in a way. It was always the same silhouettes but technology and new fabrics or process changed the perspective everytime.

When I look at Azzedine work or even look at the clothes I have from him, it ages so well both in terms of style or quality. I don’t know if Pieter makes clothes that people would want to wear forever.

 

[Grets]

Still can't get over the condom dresses

https://www.maison-alaia.com/us/fashionshow/show_sf25_section

 

[Salvatore]

I really hate that collection.

 

[PDFSD]

The knowledge is not lost. It’s just miss-used to make contemporary Art design project. It’s not at the service of making clothes anymore.

Pieter has a totally competent atelier. When YSL closed his house and when Lacroix also closed his house, some seamstresses went to Azzedine so in terms of passing generations of craftsmanship, the house is secured. I mean the non-sense design project Pieter is conducting is also impressive in terms of pure technique.

What was interesting about Azzedine was that all that technique was used in perfecting rather than inventing in a way. It was always the same silhouettes but technology and new fabrics or process changed the perspective everytime.

When I look at Azzedine work or even look at the clothes I have from him, it ages so well both in terms of style or quality. I don’t know if Pieter makes clothes that people would want to wear forever.

If its not used its lost ...he is not even picking up actual constructions of the house and twisting them etc ...from my 1st hand experience from the past per example one of the factory that was doing alia knit dresses (if i remembered well that lost him as client) could not replicate old samples techniques for another brand because there was nobody around that knew or remembered without him or who ever of his team that pushed for those techniques this was during his years he was alive.

sure ateliers staf go to other houses and keep experience and things get transformed and passed down, but its different when the actual brand takes constant actons to keep knowledge of techniques and experience alive by actively producing and archiving ways to do things like the famous chanel braids woman.

Pieter has a totally competent atelier, again no doubt!! but if the ideas or direction is doing plain abstract lego version of a shadow of ALAIA then competence can only get you so far and it's not that the atelier say no do this more interesting technique that Azedine use to do etc

they take orders and work in the path the creative direction gives ,
Pieter knows the archive.... he know there are 1000s of more superior designs in the archive , he even ref old ALAIA as The pictures!!! like dude ALAIA is 3D ............you can see Pieters idea of ALAIA´s 3D is very 2D

FLAT IKEA made 3 dimensional the stuffed chunky parts of this collection is so anti ALAIA like seriously ....lazy

 

[FashionFanatico]

I really hate that collection.

I feel you, but it's nothing to waste your hatred. Just laugh at it – isn't it really funny, absurd and witty?
Everything that so many here were desperately missing in other collections for next season. Here you go... lol

 

[JohannesL]

Still can't get over the condom dresses
View attachment 1366625

https://www.maison-alaia.com/us/fashionshow/show_sf25_section

I find similar creative process behind Pieter's collection on twitter.

 

[jeanclaude]

I find similar creative process behind Pieter's collection on twitter.

This is like 90% of designers nowadays: let´s improvise something quickly and in a random way!

 

[bc collector]

For what it matters, he comes across as a nice guy.

 

[0729866]

I'm not entirely sold on Pieter's work, but I like him. Fall and Spring 2024 felt like his best offering, though they were a tad bit austere. But, even still, I do think he is on to something.

There's a vibe he's been able to cultivate with the shows and the campaigns that do make his offering feel grand. He also seems to have a pretty solid spot with some of the more commercial offerings + press appearances (editorials, red carpet, street style, etc).

Do we know who styles the shows? I think he could maybe benefit from having someone like Joe Mckenna or Panos Yiapanis engage with the clothes so that presentation of them on the runway feels less clunky.

 

[Grets]

"Jil Sander back in the day was still luxury"
The shade being thrown at OTB/The Meiers😎

 

[fashionmarketeditor]

I'm not entirely sold on Pieter's work, but I like him. Fall and Spring 2024 felt like his best offering, though they were a tad bit austere. But, even still, I do think he is on to something.

There's a vibe he's been able to cultivate with the shows and the campaigns that do make his offering feel grand. He also seems to have a pretty solid spot with some of the more commercial offerings + press appearances (editorials, red carpet, street style, etc).

Do we know who styles the shows? I think he could maybe benefit from having someone like Joe Mckenna or Panos Yiapanis engage with the clothes so that presentation of them on the runway feels less clunky.

I believe they do the runway and campaign styling in-house via image director Aleksandra Woroniecka