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Azzedine Alaïa, designer

Woman's top, ca. 2005

Description

Maker

  • Azzedine Alaïa, 1935 - 2017, designer

Title

Woman's top

Year

ca. 2005

Medium

Cotton plain weave with knit trim

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • cotton

Techniques

  • knit,
  • knitted,
  • twill weave

Dimensions

45.1 cm (17 13/16 inches) (center back length)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Alaia / Paris

Type

  • Fashion,
  • Costume

Credit

Gift of Paula Granoff

Object Number

2009.45.7

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

It Comes in Many Forms

October 23, 2020 - December 18, 2021

This top falls gently off the shoulders, its knit bottom clinging tightly at the waist. A keyhole slit at the breastbone and another textured hole at the reverse invite peeks at normally hidden skin.

Trained as a sculptor, Tunisian designer Azzedine Alaïa dominated Parisian couture by clothing the female form with an architectural, anti-establishment approach. Celebrated as the “king of cling,” he showed that culture, comfort, modesty, and style can coexist. Alaïa brought sensitive care to how he worked with models, successfully altering the way Arab Muslim designers interact with the female body.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in Copyright. This object is Woman's top with the accession number of 2009.45.7. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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