ALAÏA

In 1981, Azzedine Alaïa established Maison Alaïa together with Christoph von Weyhe. Alaïa was born in Tunis, Tunisia in 1935. After graduating from a local art school, he worked as a dress manufacturer. He moved to Paris, worked under Guy Laroche and Thierry Mugler, and later became independent. His collection was announced under the name “Azzedine Alaïa”. His characteristic designs include a beautiful cutting which is made to fit a curved female body figure. In the 80s he lead the body-con style in fashion, triggering the hype around the world. In the 90s he stopped showing collections and began to create haute-couture dresses for his clients at home. Even after the body-con hype, his works received high reputation for its artistic values, and in 2000 and exhibition dedicated for him were held at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. In the same year, his brand expanded its business by participating in the Prada group. In 2007, he left Prada group and became a member of the Richemont group. Alaïa passed away in 2017. A branch in Japan was founded in 2018. Currently, all of their lines are unified under the name “Alaïa”.