“Fashion will last forever. It will exist always. It will exist in its own way in each era.” - Azzedine Alaia

Azzedine Alaia was born in 1940 in Tunisia to a small farming family. His early exposure to fashion came from reading his mother’s Vogue magazines. He lied about his age to get into art school early on where he studied sculpture and learned about the human form and how to structure clothing. After graduation he moved to Paris to work as a freelance fashion designer where he worked for various fashion houses including Christian Dior, Guy Laroche, and Thierry Mugler. In the late 1970’s he opened his own tiny atelier in his Paris apartment and worked there for 20 years. Stars like Greta Garbo, Marie-Hélène de Rothschild, and Louise de Vilmorin would come in for private fittings, praising Alaia for his expert tailoring. In 1980 his first solo line debuted and his career took off. Alaia is best known for his seductive dresses that clings to the body. From Madonna, to Janet Jackson to Naomi Campbell, Alaia dressed all of the fashion risk takers of the 80’s and 90’s.