Creating the exhibition Azzedine Alaïa s Dior Collection

Azzedine Laïa arrived in Paris in 1956 from his native Tunisia. He arrived in the capital by pushing open the door of Christian Dior to work there. It lasted for a very short time, but he had remained utterly fascinated by it. Moreover, since he was a voracious collector, he bought everything he could find related to Christian Dior. because it is a cornerstone, a guiding principle in the history of fashion. What is very curious is that ever since 1968, Azzedine has been consumed by the feeling that the heritage of fashion had to be protected. He was buying hundreds of pieces, which enabled him to furnish five floors on Rue de la Verry. where he had his workshops and his house, and he never showed anything. We didn't exactly know what we had. Very quickly, someone contacted Dior Heritage to provide an expert perspective on this collection, What they did, I would say, with greediness. We should be able to identify her, right? Do you have her number? Yes, it's 332. 332, Tony Verre. I'm putting the touch here. Tony Verre, 54, that's line H; no surprise there, given his condition. A knot, perhaps; we'll take a look. Ah, look, there it is, not bad. It could be a client version. What was truly invaluable was indeed the expertise work carried out by Dior Heritage. All those dresses that had no civil status have now become real. It was discovered that one was called Fête Galante, and the other Octave Feuillet. We have a date. So, tell me. I think it would be 53. Yes, we have things a bit like that. There's a blue coat, it's a pity, we can't see it. Don't you have any other badges in the coat with a name on them? No, you had the sketch right next to you, though. To identify a dress, one looks at its original sketch, its press sketch, from the collection chart, the photographs that were published in the magazine. We're also looking at, perhaps, the runway photos. Thus, a certain number of elements are preserved today in the Dior Heritage collections. and enabled us to identify, date, and name these models. When looking at the collection assembled by Aznavia, We realize that the majority of the models are by Monsieur Dior, Christian Dior. That is, during the time period from 1947 to 1957. As we all gradually realized the treasures Azdine had gathered around him, With more than 500 robes, it appeared almost as a given, I suppose. that these dresses could be exhibited as part of a tribute which would be awarded to Azdine Alaïa in his capacity as a collector. The first task of an expedition is to restore volume, I would say, to restore life, since the model, all of a sudden, is being promoted. One does not always have iconography. When we have it, it's precisely because for certain sets, It can be tricky to know how to put them on. Morphologies change depending on the decades. A slender body in the late 19th century is not the same as in the 1920s. But overall, here we can see that the garment should be filled. If there had been a real body, they would have added volume back. One knows just how much, particularly at Christian Dior, The line, the volume, the architecture of the garment, the shape of the garment are important. And thus, the modeling work accompanied by the restoration work Restore this form to present the collections without dressing them. How to present a collection that is not a collection from a house Who is not a museum collection, but the collection of a fashion designer? A collection, in itself, still reflects a particular point of view. And Asdin, it's really this idea of mystery that he wanted to unravel through the architecture of the dresses. So, we started with that chapter. The room dedicated to the architecture of a dress, presents tailored suits and coats with very emphasized silhouettes, very important, almost like objects. Asdin Alaïa had a particular taste for tailored suits. He was always telling me that as a child in Tunis, He remembered looking at fashion magazines with Christian Dior dresses being consumed by curiosity about those dresses that stood upright on their own. He said, "I absolutely wanted to discover the inner architecture of these dresses." It was a mystery. He has measured himself extensively against the art of the tailor. And he has truly maintained an enduring admiration for Christian Dior's fashion. There is a model that is quite important, dating back to 1954. What is a dress called Zelie. It so happens that by chance, the original pattern has been preserved. It was important for us to create a film that allows people to understand The entire technique hidden behind a dress, because somewhere, in contrast to the richness of the Dior collection by Asdin Alaïa, We wished to present the richness of the Dior Heritage archive collection. There is something major in the silhouette between Alaïa and Dior—the waist. There is a fairly common pictogram depicting a woman with narrow shoulders. Fitted at the waist and full-skirted. What were called skating dresses or crinoline dresses at Asdin, It's a bit like the short films of Christian Dior's New Look. There is also a chapter that was particularly close to our hearts on the line. As everyone knows, all the 1950s were dictated by Christian Dior. All of her collections bore the name of a line. where we referred to a letter of the alphabet or something very specific. By identifying the collections, Line A, Line H, He immediately adopted the stance that his approach was photographic. They were going to recognize her. Next, there is a chapter dedicated to gardens. The theme of flowers is very strong in Christian Dior's work. It is one of the most illustrative chapters and one of the richest in colors and impressions. Mr. Dior said it would be very easy for him to imagine a collection entirely in black. but he adds, why deprive woman of color, of the joy of color, of the beauty of color. Two rooms are dedicated to what is called the Dior palette. There's perhaps a cooler palette, in the blues, in the greens, in the blacks. There is the pink, red, orange palette. Roses, just like gray, were very important colors for Mr. Dior. He has always expressed that these were his two favorite colors in sewing. because they reminded him of the colors of his childhood home, his big city. There are the crushed colors I find beautiful, like that slightly muted orange, and the pinks too. It is pink. It was precisely something that Azdim Naya had in common. He greatly liked all these skin colors. And there, you see, red always appears indeed. For the first time, so many collection charts are being presented, It is a document that may be one of the most valuable, with the sketches obviously drawn by Mr. Dior himself. All the charts from 1947 to 1957. And truly, I find it beautiful and poetic to be able to summarize an entire fashion designer's body of work. It is almost an abstract work, with all its fabric pieces pinned together. It is the work of a lifetime. Another important aspect of these charts is that they have been preserved folded in three. This means that the tissue samples were protected from light. The colors you see today in this room are the exact colors. What were the styles of dresses in the 1940s-1950s? There is a chapter dedicated to the story of a wardrobe as an elegant woman in the 1950s might have approached it. It's an exercise to learn how to name dresses. Between a cocktail dress, a daytime suit, a ball gown, a formal dress, a formal gown, a evening dress, a sheath dress There is vocabulary adapted to the wardrobe. which had never been developed to such an extent as in the 1950s. We have afternoon dresses, we have ball gowns. That is an evening dress. It is to return to these terms, but it is also to show how, throughout the day and into the evening, Dresses change, lengthen, shorten, and adapt to a way of life. It's truly meant to illustrate what the elegance of the 1950s was like. Azzedine, in his soul of a collector, also greatly loved evening gowns. So, there are ball gowns. There are a few that are on display, some of which are very, very beautiful, almost beautiful in their austerity. In Azzedine Alaïa's collection, there were very few evening wear designs, ball gowns. We managed to select about ten of them. which we complete with models from the Dior Héritage collection which also allows mentioning all the creators of this house. I think Azzedine Alaya would be infinitely proud that these dresses, which were born here, are returning here. He always said that the only thing that was very certain when building the present, It was about looking at the past. For him, our dresses were the synonym of three memories. The memory of the one he had created, the memory of all the workshops that, collectively, had worked to accomplish it and the memory of the customer he had carried. This exhibition will undoubtedly be a highlight in the history of its foundation. because she says how the heritage status of the fashion work It was important to him and to us.