The new exhibition at the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation is not only the opportunity to see some of the most beautiful garments ever made, it is also a gift: the gift of discovering the friendship between 2 of the greatest fashion designers of the 20th Century, Azzedine Alaïa, of course, and Thierry Mugler. The exhibition, curated by Olivier Saillard, takes us on a journey showing us how close the 2 men were and how Mugler was instrumental in getting Azzedine Alaïa to show his work.
It all starts with the autumn-winter 1979-1990 collection. Thierry Mugler invited Alaïa to design a series of tuxedos for his fashion show. In the press kit, the designer thanked Alaïa publicly, which was a very generous gesture and brought his friend to the attention of the fashion world.
Until then, Alaïa, who had arrived in Paris in 1956, was mostly designing garments for some of the most elegant women in Paris. His virtuosity was sought after by couturiers and other designers like Yves Saint Laurent, for instance, when some technical problem had to be solved or a collection needed to be finished. That’s how Thierry Mugler met Alaïa in 1979.
His collaboration with the Mugler show encouraged Alaïa to become a designer, with his friend’s encouragements. He set up his shop on rue de Bellechasse, in Paris’s 7th arrondissement. In 1982, invited by the great department store Bergdorf Goodman, Alaïa presented his first show in New York. Mugler was instrumental in convincing him to do it. Not only that, but he also went to New York with Azzedine, organized and built the show himself, and he operated as an interpreter for the interview with the American press. When he received the invitation, at first Alaïa thought it was a joke someone was pulling on him.
The exhibition shows the influence each had on the other. “In the 1980s, both divinized the woman, proclaiming the return of glamour (...) a world away from the folkloric fashions of the 1970s,” explains Olivier Saillard. “They shared a common silhouette where majestic shoulders contrasted with choked waists and blossoming hips, memories and fantasies of the fashions of the 1930s and 1950s and the couturiers Adrian, Jacques Fath, Christian Dior and Cristobal Balenciaga.” Each man was different - Mugler with his flair for showmanship culminating with his monumental 1984 show at the Paris Zenith, while Alaïa had a taste for intimacy and perfection - but what is most touching about this marvelous exhibition is how their collections respond to each other, keeping their bond alive even after they passed away.
~Jean-Sébastien Stehli
Azzedine Alaïa Thierry Mugler 1980/1990, 2 Decades of artistic affinities. Fondation Azzedine Alaïa. Until June 29, 2025. fondationazzedinealaia.org
