Alaïa bag

The designer Azzedine Alaïa

The Tunisian designer Azzedine Alaïa first started to be involved with fashion by reproducing designs from luxury brands for the women of his neighborhood, finding inspiration in the pages of Vogue. He then studied sculpture and fine arts in Tunis before moving to France at the end of the fifties. There, he found a job at Dior’s where he was sewing labels on clothing, but he got fired after only five days. After Dior, he started working as an intendant for the Comtesse de Blégiers before being admitted at the Guy Laroche’s workshop where he studied the techniques behind clothing making for two years. In the seventies, he finally designed its first collection, for Charles Jourdan, but the success was still quite far away. Thanks to private customers though, he managed to get through difficult times until 1981 when he decided to launch a proper brand, simply named after himself.

The Alaïa fashion style

Success didn’t come as easily to Azzedine Alaïa as it did to other designers, but thanks to many private orders, his named started all along the years to be known amongst actresses and the upper-class. As soon as Azzedine Alaïa started indeed to know how to make clothing, many women have stayed around him as his designs can really highlight the female body with glamorous and simple lines.

The Azzedine Alaïa bags

The label, in addition to its ready-to-wear line, also has a collection of bags and clutches that are very looking-forward. Mostly made of leather, the details seem to be very important to the designer who looks for quality on each level of the production. The shapes are quite simple but the originality is mainly found in the way the leather is used, cut like lace for a very romantic look.