The emotion is palpable, whether in the kohl-black sheath dresses; the leopard-print designs; the safari jackets or even the striped poplin dresses from the Spring-Summer ’92 collection. Each design conveys a passion, a seductive allure, within the setting designed by Kris Ruhs where panels are painted on sheets with stencilled motifs in a gradient of ochres, sands and earth tones. “With a sense of nostalgia, the mashrabiya screens reappear in his memory, just as they did when he was a child in Tunis. These skilfully crafted partitions, which sculpt the light and the gaze, find a form of rebirth in Azzedine Alaïa’s creations,” reaffirms Olivier Saillard. We discover and rediscover these 55 designs through a journey punctuated by evocative imagery, celebrating everything from mashrabiya latticework to desert sands – an evocation of a continent that cannot be reduced to a single identity, and is elevated by the senses. On the first floor, Peter Beard’s photographs document the couturier’s remarkable escapade to the land of the Maasai in 1996. This is no mere copy-and-paste: far from simplistic folkloric representations, the references to Africa take shape through the sense of movement, the instinctive memory of gestures, and a primordial and sacred rhythm dating back to the dawn of time. “It is through Egypt and the secret art of mummification that he re-evaluates, in the closest possible way, the art of cutting, which he masters like no other. From this iconographic study, Azzedine Alaïa brings forth creations that have become his most iconic. His bandage dresses, the very first of which date from 1985 – true feats of tailoring that he invented from scratch – perfectly exemplify the virtuosity of the couturier, who was always captivated by the heritage of queens and pharaohs,” explains Olivier Saillard. An absolute must-see.
The exhibition, Azzedine Alaïa and Africa, runs until January 4th, 2027 at the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa.
