Design Museum announces Azzedine Alaïa exhibition

London’s Design Museum has confirmed that it will showcase an Azzedine Alaïa exhibition next year, which has been co-curated by the late designer himself.

Set to open in May 2018, ‘Azzedine Alaïa: The Couturier’, will showcase more than 60 of Alaïa’s couture pieces from the past thirty-five years, which have been personally selected by the late designer alongside guest curator, Mark Wilson, who is the chief curator of the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands.

The museum notes that Alaïa planned the exhibition to explore "his passion and energy for fashion as he himself intended it to be seen,” and will celebrate his mastery of cut, fit, and tailoring, as well as a look at how the designer meticulously cut all of his own patterns.

“Azzedine Alaïa, a notorious perfectionist, would work on a single outfit for many years if necessary before releasing it to the public,” explains the museum in a press statement. “His body of work will remain a statement for exacting craftsmanship. He employed traditional techniques whilst embracing the latest technological advancements to further develop clothes that had never been made before.”

Azzedine Alaïa career to be celebrated by London’s Design Museum

The exhibition will run for five months until October 7, and will be integrated with specially commissioned architectural elements by leading artists and designers who the couturier entertained a long-term creative dialogue with, including Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Konstantin Grcic, Marc Newson, Kris Ruhs, and Tatiana Trouvé.

Azzedine Alaïa died on November 18 and earlier this month was celebrated as one of the most respected and unique couturiers in the industry with a special tribute led by model Naomi Campbell at The Fashion Awards 2017.

‘Azzedine Alaïa: The Couturier’ will run from May 10 - October 7, 2018.

Images: courtesy of Peter Lindbergh