Rest in peace Azzedine Alaïa
Ace fashion designer Azzedine Alaïa died yesterday in Paris due to heart failure.
Azzedine was a genius couturier who changed the course of contemporary fashion.
Born in Tunis on 26 February 1940 to wheat farmers, Alaïa was an early devotee to Vogue and cheated his way into the local Institut Supérieur des Beaux Arts in Tunis to study sculpture.
He noted that “when I realised I couldn’t be an amazing sculptor, I changed direction” – segueing into fashion. He began assisting a dress-maker and, having built up a private client base, he moved to Paris in 1957. He soon got a job at Christian Dior, in the midst of the Algerian war, but was dismissed for having incorrect immigration papers.
From Dior he went to Guy Laroche, where he spent two seasons, then to Thierry Mugler, but a series of high-society patrons allowed him to set up his own workshop. Elegant swans such as the Comtesse of Blegiers offered him lodgings in exchange for dress-making and babysitting. Hollywood stars such as Greta Garbo and the Seventies jet-set, which included Marie-Hélène de Rothschild, came regularly for fittings.
He produced his first ready-to-wear collection in 1980
He was 77 years old.
Rest in peace Azzedine!
Born in Tunis on 26 February 1940 to wheat farmers, Alaïa was an early devotee to Vogue and cheated his way into the local Institut Supérieur des Beaux Arts in Tunis to study sculpture.
He noted that “when I realised I couldn’t be an amazing sculptor, I changed direction” – segueing into fashion. He began assisting a dress-maker and, having built up a private client base, he moved to Paris in 1957. He soon got a job at Christian Dior, in the midst of the Algerian war, but was dismissed for having incorrect immigration papers.
From Dior he went to Guy Laroche, where he spent two seasons, then to Thierry Mugler, but a series of high-society patrons allowed him to set up his own workshop. Elegant swans such as the Comtesse of Blegiers offered him lodgings in exchange for dress-making and babysitting. Hollywood stars such as Greta Garbo and the Seventies jet-set, which included Marie-Hélène de Rothschild, came regularly for fittings.
He produced his first ready-to-wear collection in 1980
He was 77 years old.
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