ALAÏA/KURAMATA – LIGHTNESS IN CREATION
Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, Paris
June 24, 2024 – February 16, 2025

Azzedine Alaïa was a great admirer of Shiro Kuramata, who died in 1991 and organised an exhibition of his work here in 2005. He was also a close friend of Kuramata’s wife Mieko, who played an essential role in building Alaïa’s collection of essential pieces including Pyramid (1968), Luminous Chair (1969), OBA-Q (1972), Glass Chair (1976), How High Is The Moon (1986) and Twilight Time (1985). Only Miss Blanche, the mythical armchair made of acrylic and roses, was missing from the collection, but Alaïa never lost hope of acquiring it one day at auction.

Twenty years later, and for the first time ever, the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa has decided to celebrate one of the great designers of his time by associating Kuramata’s work with a careful selection of pieces by Alaïa chosen for the materials, forms or approaches they share. The lurex knit of a simple gown responds to the knitted metal mesh of a chair, while the transparent acrylic of a shelf unit echoes the feather-light muslin of a haute couture creation.

The way Kuramata made lines disappear and Alaïa’s constant quest for masterfully invisible stitching bring their creations together. They have in common formal subtraction and, paradoxically, diversity of composition. Kuramata’s Pyramid shelving unit (1970) echoes Alaïa’s bandage dress, while the frozen folds of the Oba-Q lamp (1972) echo those of an evanescent white gown.

Some twenty pieces of furniture and exceptional objects designed by Shiro Kuramata (1934-91) are presented in the exhibition. In parallel, almost twenty haute couture creations by Azzedine Alaïa demonstrate his poetry of form, his radical tailoring, his subtle choice of colour and his refined use of transparency. Imbued with a great sense of lightness, the pieces on display reflect an eagerness for abstraction shared by both artists.

more. www.fondationazzedinealaia.org