House Alaia – One for the books 

Pieter Mulier ushers in a new era of continuity for the House of Alaïa.

Pieter Mulier took over as creative director of the house of Alaïa in 2021, following the death in November 2017 of French-Tunisian couturier Azzedine Alaïa, with a single aim to project the house into the future while preserving the timelessness of its founder. 

“Always ahead of his time and open to all arts and cultures, Azzedine Alaïa’s vision serves as inspiration because he always allowed himself the time to innovate and create in a sustainable way. It is with this immense sense of admiration and responsibility that I will strive to continue his legacy by celebrating femininity and putting women at the heart of creation”.

– Pieter Mulier.  

Pieter Mulier pays tribute to the femininity that the couturier cherished and defended above all else. Azzedine Alaïa was nicknamed the sculptor of bodies. It’s a return to the basics, as the emphasis here is on the female body redesigned by fabrics that become a veritable second skin. Leather, metal, knitwear, cotton and textiles are used for the silhouettes, some of which are hooded or draped, evoking the French-Tunisian couturier’s Mediterranean roots. Pieter Mulier has succeeded in enriching the brand without altering it. 

The Azzedine Alaïa Association keeps his work alive 

Azzedine Alaïa, the Tunisian-born son of farmers, worked for a local dressmaker to finance his studies at the Beaux-Arts before trying his luck in Paris in the late 1950s. He made a name for himself in the 1980s by inventing the bodysuit, the tight black boxer short and the back-zipped skirt, all of which helped define the sexy, confident female silhouette of the time. He then worked at his own pace, away from the catwalks and the press, thanks to a network of loyal customers. For fifty years, he was a passionate collector. In 2007, he decided to protect his work and art collection by founding the Association Azzedine Alaïa, together with his life partner, painter Christoph von Weyhe, and his friend of over forty years, publisher Carla Sozzani, to become the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa. The latter houses all the treasures of the house and its creator, and exhibits his work and works of art from his personal collection, both in Paris, at 18 rue de la Verrerie, where he lived and worked, and in Sidi Bou Saïd, the city he loved so much. These venues host regular exhibitions on the history of fashion and design.

Alaïa; Fashion, heritage, communication and art, a dialogue based on tradition…

In May, the Alaïa fashion house unveils ‘Dialogue’, a series of cultural projects it plans to carry out with various institutions. Pieter Mulier, Alaïa’s current director, aims to recapture the artistic aura of the luxury house. Dialogue’ will be a space of expression through which the fashion house intends to strengthen its ties with the cultural sphere. 

First collaboration: a collection presented with the dancers of Crazy Horse. Pieter Mulier has reworked an iconic dress from the Alaïa archives. The model is available in eleven colors. Each creation is accompanied by a matching Teckel bag. The entire collection was photographed by Sam Rock. He revisits the iconography of Crazy Horse, with a row of colorful dancers in instantly recognizable blonde wigs.

For Pieter Mulier, the approach of the Dialogue project is to go beyond the boundaries of fashion, he always wanted Alaïa to represent more than just clothes, and that’s how Azzedine looked at Alaïa. He was such a visionary that, right from the start, he envisioned Alaïa as an ensemble, a space where fashion and creation open up to art and beauty. And that vision remains today, because fashion only makes sense if it connects with the times. 

A RETURN TO ORIGINS 

For the time being, the Alaïa fashion house has not revealed the future artistic collaborations behind its Dialogue project. For this first collection, Pieter Mulier has given priority to the history of the house. Indeed, Azzedine Alaïa designed stage costumes for the Crazy Horse dancers in 1979. It’s a return to his roots. A fascinating designer, Azzedine Alaïa has cultivated his fascination for the visual arts throughout his career. He has also collaborated on several occasions with the music world. With the Dialogue project, his house is reinvesting the territories of expression dear to the late founder. And while other houses prefer to showcase their history through exhibitions, Pieter Mulier offers an interesting alternative. He draws a link between fashion and the cultural sphere, reminding us of what the two have in common: the creativity that inhabits both.

An era that endures and will endure…