Azzedine Alaïa

Fashion designer and collector

Ten years after its major retrospective devoted to Azzedine Alaïa (1935-2017), the Palais Galliera will host a one-of-a-kind exhibition of the fashion designer’s heritage collection.

Regarded as the last contemporary French fashion designer capable of consistently measuring up to the great masters of fashion history, Azzedine Alaïa was also an exceptional collector. Few of his predecessors and contemporaries developed such a passion for fashion history as he did, which led him to establish the largest private collection of clothing and costumes. His passion began in 1968 – when the House of Balenciaga closed down for good – and never ceased to inspire him.

This collection, which has never been shown before, is unlike any other, both for the sheer number of pieces it contains and for its enigmatic nature. Conceived in close collaboration with the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation, the exhibition Azzedine Alaïa: Fashion designer and collector traces back the history of this exceptional collection from 1968 to the artist’s death in 2017. Additionally, a digital display will allow visitors to discover the life of the designer-collector up to his last exhibition at the Palais Galliera in 2014.