Azzedine Alaïa and Thierry Mugler may, very sadly, no longer be here, but their legacy lives on. In the duo’s glorious heyday – Paris from the 1970s to the 1990s, that is – the two designers made tremendous waves, creating alluring, body-conscious silhouettes that made editors, buyers, and models drool. These days, few know of Alaïa and Mugler’s fashion relation and friendship. For his A/W 1979-80 collection, Mugler invited Alaïa to design the series of tuxedos for his fashion show, and in the press kit that accompanied the presentation of his creations that season, he thanked him publicly. In the hands of the man who never wanted to transgress the laws of cut, powder-grain and satin trouser suits acquired a form of notability and fluidity that was much appreciated.
Mind you, this very collaboration encouraged Alaïa to become a designer himself. Curated by Olivier Saillard, a true multi-hyphenate who is, amongst others, a fashion historian, former director of numerous leading art institutions in his native France, the artistic, image and culture director of shoe brand J.M. Weston, and last but not least, also the director of the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa in Paris, the latter venue currently stages an exhibition which highlights the friendship and collaborations of the two fashion greats. Alaïa was the couturier and collector behind a vast and renowned fashion heritage, and has preserved over 200 Thierry Mugler-branded creations, some 40 of which are exhibited here in dialogue with his designs from his own archives (on through Jun 29). © superfuture
Fondation Azzedine Alaïa
18 rue de la Verrerie (Marais)
75004 Paris
Daily 11am-7pm
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
