Alaïa: Livre de Collection

For over 35 years, Prosper Assouline and Azzedine Alaïa were close friends. As a tribute to their friendship, Prosper Assouline decided to republish Assouline’s 1992 “Collector’s Book” on Alaïa’s Summer 1992 show that lays bare the work of a creative artist. Never before had a haute couture designer given such an in-depth view of the secret alchemy that goes into a fashion show. Azzedine Alaïa was not one to do things the way everyone else had done, so it was fitting that he would be the first to produce such a work.

What this book offers is the complete story of a fashion show from start to finish, including: everyone participating, all of the objects required, and every item of décor or inspiration which helped form Alaïa’s work. It is like a seismographic recording of all the emotions, colors, fabrics, and shapes that go into creating a fashion show. The French call such a show a “collection,” hence the title Livre de Collection, which offers an inside view of an intensely creative universe.

This book also redresses what could be described as an injustice of the fashion world by giving a durable form to the eminently ephemeral event that is a couture show. It is a permanent record of the creative chaos that is a feature of every fashion collection, an ordered reflection of the fragile and wonderful craziness in which a creative artist lives and works.

A faithful mirror, this “Collector’s Book” reflects the intense and magnificent work of artist Azzedine Alaïa.