"This is an Alaïa!" *

Allow us the honor of remembering one of fashion's fiercest forces, Azzedine Alaïa. We reflect on his legacy 3 years after he passed away in Paris at the age of 82 on November 18th, 2017. Standing at only 5’ 2”, his creativity and vision was larger than life, but his heart is his biggest legacy. To celebrate his life, we reflect on him through the eyes of those who considered him as more than just an iconic designer, but as family.

"I first met Azzedine when I was 16," Naomi Campbell told The Independent in 1998. "It was my first day working in Paris and somebody had stolen all my money. I didn't know anyone in the city and didn't know how I was going to eat."

Fashion supermodel Naomi Campbell met her ‘Papa’ that wild day in Paris, and Azzedine opened his home to the then budding model where she moved in the following day and often stepped in as his fit model for years to follow. From that moment on, if Naomi was in Paris, she would stay with her ‘Papa’ at his home, at their home.

 But just as teens rebel, Naomi was no different. The leggy beauty would sneak out of his house to hit the club scene with Grace Jones, only for Azzedine to be woken up by a phone call that Naomi was spotted out on the town. Naomi Campbell told AnOther in 2016, “He’d get a call and they’d tell him, 'Your daughter is here.' So, he’d come down and look at me and if I’d put the outfit on wrong, he’d fix it and then say, ‘Now you’re going home!’ I’d say, ‘No! Please Papa, can I stay?’ I remember one time, Prince was going to come and play live, but he was like, ‘No. Home.’” Up until he passed in 2017 of a heart attack, Naomi had a room in his house.

Naomi Campbell wasn’t the only ‘child’ of Azzedine. “Did he start my career?,” Veronica Webb once told Vanity Fair. “Are you kidding? Myself, Naomi, Stephanie—he taught us how to use our forks, how to walk, how to take rejection, how to present ourselves. He treated us all like flesh-and-blood children.” 

Naomi Campbell told Tim Blanks in a video interview for Vogue, “He took me to the dentist, took me to museums, taught me about art, taught me about food, culture. I don’t think I will ever have that again, I definitely lived a very blessed journey with Azzedine.”

Azzedine Alaïa was born in Tunis, Tunisia, on the 26th of February 1935. At a young age he found his first muse, his twin sister, Hafida. His love of couture stemmed from Hafida’s naturally glamorous demeanor and from copies of Vogue that were given to him by a Parisian friend of his mothers.

Drawn to the arts and human form Alaïa fibbed about his age and was accepted into the Tunis Institute of Fine Arts where he studied sculpture. Following his graduation from the program and having gained a wonderful groundwork of knowledge to build off of, Alaïa made the move to Paris in 1957 to find his footing in fashion's favorite city. 

Alaïa worked for Christian Dior and Thierry Mugler and in the late 1970’s ventured out onto his own to open his first atelier in the space below his apartment. His first ready to wear collection was shown in 1980, and his apartment that doubled as his atelier would be the birthplace of his brilliance and his celebration of the female form. Known as the ‘King of Cling’, his designs worshiped the natural curves of a woman’s body and paid homage to its beauty.

Azzedine, notorious for throwing out the fashion calendar and showing when he felt he was ready to unveil his newest creations, was also a champion of other designers. Someone who supported his colleagues and lifted them up; Alaïa opened his house up to designer Vivienne Westwood for her to do her fashion show because her previous venue had fallen through at the last minute and would be regularly seen sitting in the front row at Gianni Versace’s presentations supporting his dear friend.

 Azzedine Alaïa passed away on November 18th, 2017, at the age of 82. He was beloved by many and his designs have been worn by the biggest names in the world including Michelle Obama, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Carla Bruni, Beyoncé, Victoria Beckham, and many more. He will forever be remembered as one of the greatest designers of the 20th and 21st century.

*(Clueless, 1995)