28 Established 1961 Lifestyle Fashion Sunday, January 28, 2018 show pays homage to ‘eternal style’ of late designer Alaia

A picture shows creations displayed at the exhibition “Je suis couturier” (I am a fashion designer) of late French-Tunisian fashion designer Azzedine Alaia on January 21, 2018, at the Azzedine Alaia Association in Paris. — AFP photos

wo months after legendary designer Azzedine Alaia’s sudden death plunged the fashion world Tinto mourning, an exhibition in homage to the “King of Cling” opens Monday in his studios in Paris. The Tunisian-born designer, renowned for the way his clothes hugged the body, died suddenly in November aged 82, reportedly of heart failure after falling down the stairs at his home. The diminutive maverick, who ignored fashion week convention by showing when and where he wanted, in July produced his first couture collection in six years to rapturous reviews. Now some of his most iconic dress- es are going on display in the glass-roofed gallery next to his studio and home in the Marais district where he used to show his creations. It includes the dress worn In this file photo taken on September 7, 2017 Franco-Tunisian by supermodel , his longtime friend fashion designer Azzedine Alaia poses during an exposition of and muse, when she led his last collection down the cat- the work of British artist Richard Wentworth on fashion walk. The pair were so close Campbell called the design at the Maison Alaia in Paris. designer “Papa”, and she was inconsolable at his funeral in Tunis. ‘Last of the couturiers’ “Alaia used to say that you can make an idea more a job with Christian Dior, only to be let go because he Alaia studied to be a sculptor and used his fine art Saillard described Alaia as the “last of the couturi- precise in black and not dilute it,” Saillard said. The did not have the right immigration papers. training to sculpt with needle and thread. Fashion histo- ers”, capable of doing everything himself and making famous hooded dress he made for Jones and the fire Despite the setback, he moved on to work with Guy rian Olivier Saillard, who has curated the show which his mastery invisible. “Like Balenciaga and all those brigade-red zip one he created for pop superstar Laroche and Thierry Mugler before going out on his runs until June, said Alaia’s famously flattering cut was who knew how to cut and sew, he moved further and Rihanna are among the 41 classic dresses on display. own with his own wealthy clientele. A foundation has timeless. To hammer the point home, none of the dress- further away from making an obvious show of his bril- Although his private life was always a mystery, the now been created to safeguard his work, and will also es in “Azzedine Alaia: I am a Couturier” have a panel liant technique.” He said his clothes “didn’t shout, there designer kept an open house in Paris during fashion hold regular exhibitions from his vast personal collec- explaining when they were made. “I defy anyone to dis- was nothing bling about them”, instead he went for an weeks as celebrities rubbed shoulders with students tion of couture. A retrospective of his work, “Azzedine tinguish between a dress made in 1981, 1995 or 2017,” eternal style that never went out of fashion. Almost all and waifs and strays at his large kitchen table where he Alaia, The Couturier”, will open at the Design Museum he told AFP. Instead curious visitors must consult a cat- the dresses in the show-including ones he made for pop cooked for all comers. Alaia moved to Paris at the height in in May, when his brand will also open its first alogue at the door. star and actress -are in black or white. of the Algerian war of independence, where he soon got British boutique. — AFP Five highlights from Paris fashion week

s Paris haute couture week ends Thursday, we look at the five things we learned from the elite fashion Aextravaganza: All hail Galliano Genius is a word that gets thrown around in fashion like confetti at a wedding, but many who witnessed John Galliano’s two shows for Margiela over the past 12 days believed that in his case the feathered hat fits. The British designer may never live down the notorious drunken anti- Semitic rant that cost him his job at Dior in 2011. Yet fash- ion would be far less fantastical without him. His haute couture collection using transformative fab- rics which look completely different to the naked eye than through the lens of smartphone, was not just inspired use of cutting-edge tech, but deft commentary on seeing at the world through the lens of Instagram. Karl’s beard Even geniuses make mistakes. Just ask Karl Lagerfeld who is no doubt stroking his chin over whether he will persist with his new wispy white beard. Reaction to the Kaiser’s first major change in image in two decades was general- ly negative-and almost drowned out his very girly Chanel show. Vogue’s legendary critic Suzy Menkes did her best to soften the blow by referring to the growth as “an exciting facial accessory”. Be careful who you quote Dior under Maria Grazia Chiuri loves nothing better than a good slogan. She began her reign at the fabled label with her “We should all be feminists” T-shirt and by plastering “Christian Dior J’adore” on just about every- thing, from bras to sandal straps. This week she wrote lines from Andre Breton’s “Surrealist Models present creations for Ralph & Russo during the 2018 spring/summer Haute Couture collection in Paris. — AFP photos Manifesto” across her models’ collar