Ten people who changed the world: Azzedine Alaia, a furious fashion talent
Whether in the cut-throat field of politics or the fashion industry's corridors of power, this year they left our planet a better place. Celebrate 10 of the best, nominated by Independent writers
Saturday 31 December 2011
Related articles
Call it l'air du temps – or, indeed, fashion on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Whatever, 2011 will go down in history as a time when this generally polite industry lost its collective rag.
It all began with John Galliano accused of racism and anti-Semitism (he has since been found guilty of both) following an uncharacteristically loose-lipped outburst in a Paris café at the end of February. Natalie Portman – also atypically outspoken on this occasion – swiftly announced herself "deeply shocked and disgusted". So did Karl Lagerfeld: "I'm furious, if you want to know".
Also furious this year was Patrick Thomas, the famously discreet CEO of Hermès. On 6 March, after learning that Bernard Arnault, president of rival fashion corporation LVMH, had acquired a 20 per cent stake of his company, Thomas accused him of "rape". "If you want to seduce a beautiful woman," Thomas said of a move that insiders saw as the first step towards a hostile takeover, "you do not start by raping her from behind".
Moving swiftly on to April, and Christian Louboutin's no less angry attempt to force Yves Saint Laurent to withdraw a pair of red-soled shoes from its stores on the grounds, according to the footwear designer's lawyers, that "Louboutin is the first designer to develop the idea of having red soles on women's shoes". YSL's lawyers responded with appropriate – not to mention inflammatory – hauteur, stating: "Red outsoles are a commonly used ornamental design feature in footwear, dating as far back as the red shoes worn by King Louis XIV in the 1600s...". In August, Louboutin's injunction was denied when Judge Victor Marrero compared the case to a hypothetical one where Picasso might sue Monet for using the colour blue. Ouch.
Leave it to Azzedine Alaïa, however, to take a fashion spat and inflate it into unprecedented proportions, putting all others in the shade. First, the 71-year-old designer turned his attention to Karl Lagerfeld. Alaïa told French online magazine Virgine in June: "I don't like his fashion, his spirit, his attitude. It's too much caricature. Karl Lagerfeld never touched a pair of scissors in his life."
And here he is on Anna Wintour: "She runs the business very well, but not the fashion side. When I see how she is dressed, I don't believe in her tastes one second. Anyway, who will remember Anna Wintour in the history of fashion? No one."
Basking in the knowledge that, more than any other designer, he occupies neutral territory – it is not uncommon for M Alaïa to be seen front row at many of his competitors' shows, or indeed for other designers to wear his clothes – this is not a man who has been overly worried about what others might think of him and that, too, in fashion circles, is most unusual.
His designs are as exclusive today as they were 30 years ago, as seen at a current exhibition at the Groningen Museum in The Netherlands (on show until 6 May). Any buyer is still grateful to receive his pieces, however late in the season they may arrive (they're usually pretty late). Tunisian-born Alaïa is so grand that he turned down the Légion d'honneur. "You know, Sarkozy offered [it]," he said in July. "I refused. People said I refused because I don't like Sarkozy, but that's ridiculous. I refused because I don't like decorations – except on women."
And so it was with some fanfare that, after an absence from the catwalk of eight years, in July the designer chose to show to the most intimate coterie of journalists and friends imaginable during the autumn/winter haute couture season in Paris. Donatella Versace was there. So, too, was Kanye West (in October, Alaïa returned that particular favour, attending West's debut ready-to-wear show). Then came the beautiful Sofia Coppola who was in search of a wedding gown. At the end of the summer – on 29 August, to be precise – she married Thomas Mars in the tiny Italian town of Bernalda – where her great-grandfather was born and her famous father still owns a palazzo – in a delicately worked, light-as-a-feather lavender dress made for her by Azzedine Alaïa.
Life & Style blogs
Your chance to live in Winnie the Pooh’s home
Plus London's buy-to-let hotspots and a new property portal
How can the mortgage market recovery be helped?
Guest post by Richard Sexton, business development director of e.surv chartered surveyors
-
The ten best home phones
-
Facial hair: Cat beards and the purrrsuit of excellence
-
Microsoft's Xbox One: Have the price (£399) and release date (30 November) been leaked by online retailer Zavvi?
-
Xbox One vs PlayStation 4: Why Microsoft's console name game just doesn't add up
-
The 10 Best salt and pepper sets
- 1 Pope Francis: Being an atheist is alright as long as you do good
- 2 Man and woman arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder victim of Woolwich machete attack, named as Drummer Lee Rigby
- 3 'Sickening, deluded and unforgivable': Horrific attack brings terror to London’s streets
- 4 'Something passed underneath us, quite close': Airbus A320 has close encounter with UFO
- 5 Lord of the Sings: Sir Christopher Lee, 91, to release heavy metal album
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
Visit York
Find out what The Independent's resident travel expert has to say about one of the most beautiful small cities in the world
Making reading fun for kids
Nook is donating eReaders to volunteers at high-need schools and participating in exclusive events throughout the campaign.
Introducing the 'Get Reading' campaign
Get the latest on The Evening Standard's campaign to get London's children reading.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
The man who's eaten everywhere
A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?
Banned Iranian director to attend Cannes Film Festival
The 10 Best salt and pepper sets
Ferran Soriano: Predicting success if Manchester City 'vision' is followed
Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them




Comments