This floor length evening gown is made from a navy blue silk muslin cut on the bias. It is sleeveless and has diamond shaped pieces and inlays around the décolleté. The gown is relatively transparent around the bust and hips of the dress, allowing areas of the wearer's skin to show. There are other pieces of the silk muslin that come up around the décolleté, cross over in the back, and are attached by two metallic staples. The same attachment method is used on the lower back of the dress. The dress closes in the back left, following the bias-cut, with seven metallic snap buttons. The base of the skirt is in beige crepe muslin inlaid around the waist in a diamond shape. The same muslin is modestly inlaid on the lower back as well. Made in Alaïa's atelier in France.
Private collection, UK
Sigourney Weaver wore the dress to the Cannes Film Festival in 1998.
Monica Bellucci was photographed with Azzedine Alaïa, c. 1998.
Rihanna wore the dress to the 2013 Grammy Music Awards, Los Angeles.
The red model of this exact dress was created for the opening of the Guggenheim Bilbao, on October 17, 1997, now in the collection of:
Palais Galliera, Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, Paris
Paris, Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, Alaïa/Grès: Beyond Fashion, September 11, 2023 - May 20, 2024
The red model of this dress from the Spring/Summer 1997 Couture collection was also exhibited in:
Paris, Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, Alaïa and Balenciaga: Sculptures of Shape, September 27, 2020 - February 14, 2021
Getaria, Museo Cristóbal Balenciaga, Alaïa y Balenciaga: Escultores de la Forma, April 30 - October 31, 2021
London, The Design Museum, Azzedine Alaïa: The Couturier, May 10 - October 7, 2018.
Paris, Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, Azzedine Alaïa: Je Suis Couturier, curated by Olivier Saillard, January 22 - June 10, 2018.
Materials: Silk chiffon
Measurements:
Center front length from base of halter neckline to hem: 54”
Center back length of dress from back closure to hem:
Bust panel (laying flat, open back): 12”
Hips: 36”
Length from center front base of halter neckline to top of halter neckline strap: 12”
White rectangular label with black lettering 'ALAIA Paris' sewn on the inside of the dress.
This divinely constructed piece is quintessential Alaïa Couture, the masterful handling of texture, layering, and construction is a real tour de force and one of his greatest moments of innovation in his career.
