Azzedine Alaïa

Azzedine Alaïa (1935–2017) was a couturier born in Tunis whose training in sculpture informed his attention to anatomy, cut and the shape of clothing on the body. After studying at the city’s fine-arts school and working in dressmaking, he established a career in Paris, developing closely fitted designs in leather, jersey and knitwear.

He also collected fashion, art and design. In 2007 he founded an association with Christoph von Weyhe and Carla Sozzani to preserve these collections and his own work, later housed by the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa.