Azzedine Alaia, the Couturier Who Shaped Women
FILM INFO
- Original title: Azzedine Alaia, the Couturier Who Shaped Women
- Director: Olivier Nicklaus
- Length: 53 min
- Country: France
- Year: 2022
SCREENINGS
- 17.12.2022 at 17.00 Sõprus, Tallinn
Portrait of the world-famous French-Tunisian couturier, Azzédine Alaïa, with the master speaking himself. Obsessed with the female body, he magnified women’s curves by sculpting clothes on them. He dressed the most famous, from Greta Garbo, Grace Jones to Arletty and Tina Turner but also Kim Kardashian and Michelle Obama.
Born in Tunisia in 1935 into a family of farmers, Azzedine Alaïa became passionate about fashion at a very early age. He took some lessons from his sculpture classes at the Beaux-Arts (Fine Arts) in Tunis and, as fashion “is not a man’s job in Tunisia”, he flew to Paris in 1956.
He learned his trade in the shadows, patiently, with prestigious private clients like Louise de Vilmorin, Arletty or Greta Garbo.
This portrait, supported by numerous archives, reveals a secretive designer, applying sculptural techniques to his dresses; and who, in all modesty (“I only make clothes for women”), ended up proving to the world that his craft was an art in its own right.
Interior architect Galina Burnakova will make an introduction to the film screening.
