17 May The Design Museum…with Azzadine Alaïa
Last week I got a sneak preview of the new Azzadine Alaïa exhibition at The Design Museum in London. It’s a fantastic tribute to an incredible couturier who trained in sculpture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Tunis and who regarded his dresses as works of art. He was independent from the fashion world, crafting very specific pieces for specific women. He created his dresses on the body itself, draping and wrapping the fabric to enhance form and beauty, and making each garment personally.
Monsieur Alaïa had been a huge part of the conception of this exhibition at the Design Museum and had started to work on ideas last April. Sadly he very suddenly died last November but his long term partner Christoph Van Weyhe, with his close friend and curator Mark Wilson felt the exhibition should go ahead. But this is no retrospective; this is an exhibition of hand picked garments Alaïa chose for the exhibition himself and which interlace with stories of his life.
This feels much more than a straight forward fashion exhibition and illustrates beautifully how Monsieur Alaïa worked with ideas rather than any fashion trends.There is also a beautiful display of some Richard Wentworth photographs of a few of Alaïa’s dresses which are on the second floor gallery, and each screen behind the garments in the exhibition have been especially created by artists including Cristoph Van Weyhe.
I love being able to see the passion involved in the way an artist creates and it is completely evident throughout this exhibition.
Being able to get so close up to Alaïa’s designs is incredible; his stitches are virtually invisible… I even saw a couple taking close up pictures just so they could zoom in and find them!
There’s something about fashion as art, as sculpture which I find irresistible. The theatricality of being able to wear something extraordinary, something so exquisite which has literally been made for and partly inspired by your body, is more than fashion; it’s the point where art, texture, shape and form all share a moment of magic.
If you enjoy the escape of fashion, or just love delving into another area of art, this exhibition is not to be missed and transports you to another dimension of design.
Azzadine Alaïa: The Couturier is open daily and runs until October 7th, and you can find more details and prices here
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