Exhibition Review: Alaïa Foundation Exhibition in Paris Stages Dialogue Between Two Masters of Haute Couture

Philippe Fortunato, Chief Executive of Fashion and Accessories Maisons at Richemont, recently described the Azzedine Alaïa brand as “a house guided by timelessness, independence, and exceptional savoir-faire”. That assessment finds tangible expression in the current exhibition at the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa in Paris.

Left: Christian Dior - Boutique ca 1957 - Cocktail dress in red silk satin. 
Right: Azzedine Alaïa  - Haute Couture 1958 - Formal afternoon dress in red silk faille.

Titled “Azzedine Alaïa et Christian Dior : Deux Maîtres de la Couture” (Two Masters of Haute Couture), the show is being held at the foundation’s headquarters in the Marais district. It presents an elegant curatorial dialogue between Alaïa and Christian Dior, two designers separated by decades yet united by a shared commitment to structure, silhouette and craftsmanship.

At the heart of the exhibition is Alaïa’s long-standing admiration for Dior. The scenography has been described as poetic and reverential, with floral motifs and suspended dresses used to evoke couture as a form of living sculpture. Rather than positioning Alaïa as a follower, the exhibition underscores his distinctive interpretation of Dior’s influence, highlighting emotional resonance over imitation.

Intimate in scale, the show offers visitors a close-up encounter with nearly 70 designs by the two couturiers. Instead of a chronological survey, the exhibition is conceived as a visual conversation, examining parallels in aesthetics, technique and shared values in cut and construction.

Left: Azzedine Alaïa - Ready-to-Wear SS 1992 - ensemble in black cotton satin.
Right:  Christian Dior - "SONATICE" Ligne Fiseau Haute Couture AW 1957 - Evening
dress in black silk velvet.

Visitors have remarked on the surprising stylistic affinities between the designers, noting similarities that at first glance may appear derivative but reveal themselves as respectful and interpretive echoes. Many have described the exhibition as deeply moving, particularly given its setting in Alaïa’s former home and atelier, which lends a personal and atmospheric dimension to the presentation.

While Alaïa and Dior might initially seem distant in style, the exhibition reveals profound aesthetic and historical proximities. “Formal agreements, colour combinations, similarities in ornamentation and inspiration attest to the reconciliation of fashion and time that these two great masters naturally led and governed,” said curator Olivier Saillard, director of the Alaïa Foundation.

Throughout his life, Alaïa acquired more than 500 Christian Dior designs, preserving them from potential loss or dispersal. A devoted admirer of Dior, he shared the founder’s predilection for accentuated waists, sculpted shoulders, curved hips and voluminous skirts. The two designers were also united by a refined approach to fabric and colour, including a marked use of black and grey in multiple shades, transforming garments into enduring statements of couture.

“Azzedine Alaïa et Christian Dior : Deux Maîtres de la Couture” runs until May 24th 2026.

Images by Lucia Carpio

Ziad Nakad COUTURE Autumn/Winter 2021/22 Collection

Renaissance is the title of ZIAD NAKAD COUTURE's Autumn WINTER 2021 2022 COLLECTION.

As a designer passionate about architecture, Ziad Nakad's Autumn/Winter 2021/22 couture collection in all its finery and extravagance was inspired by the famous Château de Chambord of the 16th century in the Loire region of France and its glamorous grounds and interiors, including its open double spiral staircase.

The collection is tinted with pastel colors, and elaborate hand-embroidered details administered in the designer's atelier in Beirut.

Note the silhouettes of a column, the architectural fitted dresses, and the lightness of impeccable pleats and flowing flounces.

Then come the sexy and airy fluid dresses, in shimmering colors: purple, yellow, blue, a tribute to the historic tapestries and paintings of the castle. 

The majestic, hand-embroidered wedding gown closes this dream collection.

Photos by Greg Alexander © Méphistophélès Productions

European shows are rescheduled, cancelled or staged digitally

While it may seem optimistic or ambitious even to announce or organise 2021 trade shows in the current pandemic climate, trade event organisers recognise the continued importance of such professional events for business developments of the various sectors.  When physical shows are not possible, digital events take their place.

Paris Men’s Fashion Week and Haute Couture Week will still proceed this January but all shows and presentations will be held online only without live audiences, according to the Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, due to Covid-19 restrictios in France and public gatherings are prohibited.

Although fashion houses and brands can still organise meetings as well as live shows with models, these are to be done behind closed doors, under strict coronavirus guidelines, including only a limited number of people can be present at the same time in any given space.

Paris Men’s Fashion Week runs from January 19 to 24 and reportedly the provisional calendar at the moment includes Louis Vuitton, Rick Owens, Issey Miyake, Dries Van Noten, Dior Homme, Paul Smith, Wales Bonner, Hermes, Vetements, Jil Sander, Thom Browne and Celine.

Haute Couture Week is running from January 25 to 27, with the provisional schedule opening on the Monday with Schiaparelli, Iris Van Herpen, Christian Dior and Giambattista Valli.  Following on the Tuesday will be Chanel, Stéphane Rolland, Alexandre Vauthier, Giorgio Armani Privé and Valentino. The third day will feature Maison Margiela, Elie Saab, Viktor and Rolf, Zuhair Murad, and Jean Paul Gaultier.

International audiences can access the shows on the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode’s online platform at www.fhcm.paris.  

In Italy the winter editions of the Pitti Immagine Uomo and Pitti Immagine Bimbo respectively leading menswear and childrenswear trade shows, along side knitwear show Filati, all originally scheduled to take place in January, have now been pushed back to 21-23 February due to Covid-19. Organisers say the events based in Florence will encompass three extraordinary days of special events, installations and live digital features.

Also in February 2021, Copenhagen Fashion Week will be a fully digital edition while other related trade shows such as Revolver and CIFF have been cancelled thanks to restrictions of going development of Covid-19. This February digital show will allow brands to present their seasonal collections to an  international audience, between 2-4 February 2021 via Copenhagen Fashion Week's new digital platform on www.copenhagenfashionweek.com, which will be launched on 14 January. The show schedule has already been published and the talks program will be announced in mid-January.

Cecilie Thorsmark, CEO of Copenhagen Fashion Week says they hope the physical shows will return in August 2021.

Meanwhile in Paris, while Messe Frankfurt France recently announed the cancellation of their February 2021 textile trade shows, they are offering an alternative solution to the international industry fashion players with a new event from February 1 to 5 at the Atelier Richelieu, in the heart of Paris.

Texworld Evolution Paris - Le Showroom will allow buyers and designers to explore offers from a selected number of exhibitors from the sister events of Apparel Sourcing, Avantex, Leatherworld and Texworld Paris.

Upon invitation at the time slot of their choice, visitors will have direct access, in optimal conditions of comfort and security, to the textile and clothing collections arranged around two main areas:

• A Trend Forum imagined by the artistic directors of Texworld Evolution Paris, Louis Gérin and Grégory Lamaud, will offer to the buyers a creative inspiration book elaborated around a selection of textile and clothing samples that will become the fashion of spring-summer 2022.

• A Library will unveil, by categories, a precise selection of several thousands of fabrics samples and finished goods to be discovered in specially designed areas that will facilitate the professionals' journey.

Upon arrival at the showroom, buyers will be provided with a digital tool specifically developed to facilitate direct contact with manufacturers for expressing interest, requesting samples or quotations. Le Showroom is therefore an innovative response to ensure that this essential connection between the international garment industry and textile and clothing buyers is maintained, and to prepare for the July 2021 trade shows.

“Le Showroom is the first international professional textile event to be held in Paris within a year and offers a new way of organizing fashion sourcing, explains Frédéric Bougeard, President of Messe Frankfurt France. 

Also the international Première Vision Paris show for all sectors of the textile and materials industry will be holding a digital show for its February edition, presaging the continued health constraints on a global scale.

The PV Paris digital show will run from February 15 to 19, with the introduction of new services for the industry thus refleting the marked acceleration of the group's digitization. Première Vision will also be bringing online its new website, to be rolled out in several stages over the coming year, which will bring together all its trade shows and its own Marketplace platform.

Throughout the last few months, Première Vision has been engaged in supporting the international fashion industry as it faces the difficult challenges posed by the Covid-19 health crisis, introducing new and innovative e-commerce features to its Marketplace, and speeding the development of its digital system.

The organisers announced their December 2020 Digital Denim Week (held from November 30th to December 4th in lieu of Denim Première Vision) was successfully launched, allowing some 4,661 industry professionals (the number of unique visitors) to participate and build their denim collections for Spring-Summer 22. These included international buyers from the world's most creative fashion companies - fashion and luxury brands, pure players in jeanswear, web players, etc.

In comparison, the December 2019, Denim Première Vision held in London show, which was a physical event, welcomed nearly 2,000 visitors, they reported.

Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week - Valentino Spring/Summer 18 Voluminous Glamour

Valentino’s Haute Couture Collection SS 2018 speaks volume for the shape of modern day glamour infused with colours of the garden and giant scale floral motifs.

The fashion house combines graceful poetry with superb hand craftsmanship.  To complete the voluminous look, hats by British designer Philip Treacy created in fluttering ruffled feathers add maximum drama.

According to Valentino Haute Couture’s descriptions, it is  classic Haute Couture, read in the present, made of knots, glamor, Gowns of Emotions while thinking of Lady Duff-Gordon (a British designer of the late 19th and 20th Centuries); full colours of Andrea Pontormo (of Florentine Renaissance), imposing materials like taffeta and moiré, lace and intarsia.

Today's Haute Couture, which contemplates the day, chinos and trenches, composed of pieces assembled for immediate and solemn attire.

A personal and heartfelt Haute Couture, presented in an intimate way, as we used to do.

The work of the Workshop as the Art of Time, as an uninterrupted dialogue between those who imagine and those who perform, says Valentino.

#ValentinoHauteCouture

Text Source & Images: Beautypress/Valentino

Novelty fabrics for SS18 - a showcase of new technical and creative styles

Evening fabrics and novelty textiles showcased at Premiere Vision Paris in February 2 - 9 for the Spring/Summer 2018 season displayed a wide range of schematic patterns and appealing surface textures that point to a fresh and optimistic outlook full of innovation and imagination.

The PV fashion team described the SS2018 season as one that is simple yet extraordinary.  Neither naive nor romantic, but rather highly graphic and contemporary.  Definitely a season infushed with creative energy, featuring flowery or geometric lace and guipure with well-defined contours, schematic patterns in two-tone or three-tone colourways with refined contrasts for maximum visibility, as far as evening fashion fabrics are concerned.

While there were sparkling examples, such as mixing cellophane and iridescent yarns, there were also colourful reflections and exuberant, full-coloured metals to enhance jacquards.  There were also dishevelled, fringed patterning, applique embroideres and flowers budding in pulsating scales, featuring greenhouse plants and exotic natural themes burgeoning with flowers, leaves and birds of paradise.

British textile mills and design studios' new creations for high fashion shone through in this genre where new technical and creative styles were highlighted.  

The variety of decorative visual details enriched with visual fantasy played off a complicity that was clever, modern and yet embracing.  Any designer wishing to present their clothing as objects of desire would be spoilt for choice.    A decorative showcase of exuberance for an optimistic future indeed from the British mills.

British creativity and technology knowhow when combined with Asian workmanship produced extraordinary results as showcased by the London Embroidery Studio which participated in a special zone at the fair called Maison D'Exceptions dedicated to high creativity, targetting fashion designers and luxury brands.
Founded in 2007 in London, the studio combines digital and analog techniques to produce made to measure embroidery and adornments.  The company was set up by Royal College of Art graduate Andrew Kenny whose founding aim was to tie together research practice and studio production in the promotion of design-led embroidery practice.

Also featured at Maison D'Exceptions was British company Rare Thread, a textile studio/collective conceived by Laura Miles and Kirsty McDougall incorporating a team of designers and specialists.  The studio has worked with couture names such as Valentino, Chanel, Balenciaga, YSL and other top brands including Calvin Klein and Christopher Kane, with its global networks scross yarn, material, woven manufacturing and finish.  The studio also produces small-scale series in varied and uncommon formats, combining experimental techniques to achieve surprising results.

The UK Fashion & Textile Association (UKFT) stand at the Premiere Vision Paris trade fair February 7 - 9  2017.

From Stephen Walters & Sons, the SS18 collection launched at PV covered womenswear, menswear and neckwear fabrics boasting a broad range that featured the company's signature combination of superior technical expertise and intensely creative spirity.  Both contemporary and heritage inspirations were very much in evidencr, displaying refined, sophisticated fabrics with luxe appeal.
"Our SS18 collection is a wonderful demonstration of both the technical capabilities of our historic Suffolk silk mill, and the innovative, fashion forward vision of our design team, " said Bruce Crabtree, Design Director of Stephen Walters and Sons.  "Thesse exceptional strengths not only enable us to create the finest fabrics for menswear, womenswear and neckwear, but also undertake creative partnerships with fashion houses, producing unique designs for their signature collections."

Meanwhile Bella Tela, another English design house, showcased a wide range of evening wear couture fabrics in its new collection, showcasing widely sourced materials combined with state of the art contemporary embroidery, as well as traditional manufacturing techniques.

New additions to Litmans Lace & Fabrics included luxury crepe and Marocain fabrics, stretch chiffon and stin, French Style Chantilly laces and on-trend metallic shimmer fabrics, geometric, sequin and luxurious 3D stretch laces.

All photos © Lucia Carpio 2017

London's Hand & Lock embroidery atelier to host Tambour Beading course in Chicago, USA in May

London-based Hand & Lock -  embroidery atelier to top European designers - will be presenting their most popular embroidery class, Haute Couture: Intensive for one week this coming May, at the Chicago Fashion Incubator at Macy's on State Street in Chicago, USA.

The intensive five-day class focuses on the French art of embroidery technique known as Tambour Beading or Crochet de Lunéville, a special technique used in high fashion where beads or sequins can be attached to a fabric. accomplished with a special hook working through a fabric stretched tight as a drum. The technique is popular on international haute couture catwalk shows.  

Students enrolled on this special class will learn how to create a design, set up a full size frame and how to work the hook through the fabric without catching. Once they are practiced enough they will learn how to place beads, sequin, bugles using the technique.

An example of a finished work displayed by Hand & Lock at the
Textile Forum event in London March, 2016.
Photo: Lucia Carpio

The Haute Couture: Intensive 5-day course (for level 1 and 2) will take place from Monday 9th May to Friday the 13th May 2016 at the Chicago Fashion Incubator at Macy's, 111 North State, Chicago, IL 60602, USA. 

More information is available on the Hanf & Lock website.  Click HERE.

Hand & Lock also runs weekend Tambour beading courses in its London atelier.  One coming up will take place Saturday 4th to Sunday 5th June 2016.  Click HERE for details.

The origins of the tambour embroidery skill are unclear.  According to Hand & Lock, the technique appeared in Europe in the 18th century and quickly became a popular pastime for ladies. It was fairly exotic compared to other technique of that time a that no doubt contributed to its popularity.