Azzedine Alaia: A History

The body conscious way of dressing was first championed by eighties’ fashion powerhouse Azzedine Alalia. A repertoire of looks electrifying high street fashion was prompted by Azzedine Alaia, in Figure 1 (thehoegoddess.com) , who was entitled the “King of Cling” in the 1980s by the fashion press. His designs were well known to be a spectacle of the female body. Alaia 's clothes captured the spirit of the times when many women indulged in physical activities and fashion magazines began to showcase muscled bodied models. As many women wanted to parade their newly toned bodies, designers began to create clothing to emphasize the female form that was revolutionary to European fashion. His concern for sculptural and sensual designs in his clothes is a clear insight to his formal training in the fine arts (Daryl F. Mallett, 2008). Political and economical conditions in the 1980s triggered international scrutiny of equality of sexes as a moral goal when Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of England in 1979. Colleen Hill (2008) said during his curation at the Museum of FIT, “By the 1980s, attitudes toward the display of a woman’s body had shifted dramatically”. Akiko Fukai (2002, pp.513) observes the commencement of the body-conscious movement, “Women, suddenly active in the world of professional business and interested in keeping their bodies physically toned, wore a style called “Power dressing” which simultaneously promoted an image of powerful authority and a soupcon of sexualized femininity”. This upcoming trend saw the return of body-conscious fashion as observed in the 1960s through Azzedine Alaia’s pioneering use of revolutionary stretch materials like lycra, spandex, jersey knits and viscose in the 1980s (Akiko Fukai, 2002). His body embracing garments that fit like a second skin (Encyclopedia, 2010) were a nonpareil representation of the body conscious decade. Suzy Menkes (1991) in her article said that Alaia’s

References: [Online] (updated 13 May 2007) Available at: http://theshoegoddess.com/2007/05/azzedine-alaia-a-fashion-prodigy.html Figure 2: Baudot, F., 1996 [Online] (updated 8 October 2007) Available at: http://decadesinc.blogspot.com/2007/10/all-hail-azzedine-alaia.html [Online] (15 August 2006) Available at: http://www.fashionrat.com/azzedine-alaia-designer/ Figure 5: Baudot, F., 1996. Alaia: Fashion memoir. Great Britain: Thames and Hudson Ltd, London. Figure 6: Watson, L., 2004