Tunisian couturier Azzedine Alaïa spent many years exploring the eternal bond between feminine and masculine. The designer would drape fabric directly onto his model, sculpting the material and allowing it to take shape upon the body. This experimental approach helped to develop the maison’s key silhouettes, including stretch knits and perfectly fitted cuts that are fluid and flexible.
This season, the house has revisited these sculptural techniques and has drawn inspiration from the Alaïa archives to build upon the designer’s intuitive codes established decades ago. The workshops and studio used the 1988 Edition line as a starting point for the Autumn 2020 collection, reworking the trompe l’oeil jumpsuit, a tuxedo jacket floating over a pleated skirt and revising silky leathers that are just as sharp and structured as they were in the late eighties.
The collection is centered on that masculine-meets-feminine duality; classic men’s trousers are worn with corsets under fitted jackets, trench coats are draped and blazers underline the silhouette, while perfectos hollow out the waist. The swinging capes and biker style jackets will have you dreaming of chilly autumn mornings, but the showstoppers of the collection come in the form of fluid draped chiffon dresses in hues of gold, sage and caramel — depending on the light.
Each look has a rewritten story: the floral prints date back to the nineties, there was a couture coat revived from autumn 2016 and upcycled fabrics from the early noughties. Structured, polished and almost melted onto the body, the house’s Autumn 2020 lineup is a collection that Azzedine Alaïa would almost certainly approve of.
