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View of the exhibition "Adrian and Alaïa, the art of the tailor", organized by the Association Azzedine Alaïa in tribute to Tunisian couturier. Silvano Mendes / RFI

The city of Paris made this Sunday, January 20 tribute to the designer Azzedine Alaïa with the inauguration of a plaque in front of his former studio. The event, organized the day before the Haute Couture Fashion Week Spring / Summer 2019, was an opportunity for the fashion industry to salute the work of the Tunisian creator disappeared in 2017. An exhibition orchestrated by the Association Azzedine Alaïa has just opened.

The fashion world met on Sunday at the rue de la Verrerie, in the Marais district, for the inauguration of the plaque in honor of the couturier. The address, which served as a workshop, office and residence, has become a place of exhibitions and, since last November, a bookstore specializing in fashion. But this building is also known for the mythical lunches organized by the creator, who liked to gather around a large table those who were dear to him.

Some of them were present at this tribute, starting with Naomi Campbell, iconic model who had a special relationship with the designer. The one she still calls "daddy" has been a big part of her career on the podium. Also present were, among others, the director, actress and former model Farida Khelfa or the gallery owner Carla Sozzani, who were also part of this extended family and who dreamed so much in the world of fashion.

An exhibition brings Alaïa and Adrian together

The unveiling of the plaque was also the occasion to inaugurate the exhibition Adrian and Alaïa, the tailor's art , organized by the Association Azzedine Alaïa. Under the direction of the historian of fashion and former director of the Galliera museum, Olivier Saillard, this event hosts, under the beautiful glass roof of the old workshops of the rue de la Verrerie, the unprecedented meeting between the pieces of the creator who sculpted the body women with their "second skin" dresses and the creations of the American fashion designer Gilbert Adrian, revealed during the golden age of cinema of the 1930s.

This former costume director at Hollywood's Metro Goldwyn founded his own fashion house in the 1940s in New York and dressed those who gave the "la" of the fashion of the following years, from Katharine Hepburn to Greta Garbo in passing by Joan Crawford. A style that has marked Alaïa, to the point where the Tunisian designer has bought several pieces of the American for his personal collection. This dialogue can be admired until June 23 in Paris.

► Azzedine Alaïa Association, 18, rue de la Verrerie, 75004, Paris