Alaïa

Alaïa 1984 corset lace leather jacket.

This 1984 corset-laced leather jacket stands among the most defining silhouettes of Azzedine Alaïa’s career and of fashion in the 1980s. Its sculptural shape exemplifies his mastery of the female form, a vision that would cement Alaïa as one of the most influential couturiers of his time.

Alaïa’s journey began in Paris in 1957, where he briefly worked under Christian Dior before refining his craft at Guy Laroche and later Thierry Mugler. Mugler’s futuristic, body-conscious aesthetic left a visible imprint, yet Alaïa transformed these influences through his own language of precision tailoring and innovative leatherwork. In his hands, leather ceased to be rigid or industrial;

it became supple, sensual, and architectural.

By the mid-1980s, Alaïa’s creations became known as the « models uniform », the models actually worked for free. They did it for a generous clothing allowance that Azzedine gave them. Basically they had free access to the store and could take whatever they wanted. 

The corset jacket epitomizes this legacy a work that is at once armor and adornment, embodying Alaïa’s lifelong dedication to celebrating the female body through structure, craft, and sensuality.

seen in Elle December 1986

Christy Turlington wearing Azzedine Alaïa, photographed by Arthur Elgort, 1986.

corset like closing

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