Alaïa Paris Marignan and London New Bond Street
From November 27th, 2023 until January 4th, 2024
Until January 4, 2024, Alaïa and Rare Books Paris–which has, until now, had its book collection housed in a private residence on the Left Bank of Paris exclusively available for private research and by appointment–will offer a collection of archival volumes related to the work and research of Azzadine Alaïa, who passed away in 2017. The selection at the Paris Marignan and London New Bond Street locations features rare and limited edition works of books beloved by the Tunisian designer on fashion, art, design, and photography. This includes Forged Steel by Richard Serra, Un Choix d’Art Minimal dans la Collection Panza, 22 Chic by Mario Testino for Visionnaire 1997 (where each image is the result of collaboration between two or more artists: Richard Avedon and Gianni Versace; Helmut Lang and Elfie Semotan; Wolfgang Tillmans, Kate Moss, and Camilla Nickerson; David Sims and Melanie Ward). Additionally, there are various projects curated by Dan Flavin and Karl Lagerfeld. Personally curated by Pieter Mulier, the creative director of Alaïa, the selection is presented in special dotted covers and accompanied by a customizable leather bookmark inspired by the Maison’s signatures, available in both boutiques. Not just a simple bookmark–but a piece of art for collectors.
“Books lead us to beauty. They are our best allies, and our most precious legacies. One of the objects that I own and cherish the most is a book on Le Corbusier which belonged to my grandfather.”
“I have been interested in books from as long as I can remember.”
It was 2013 when the international creative community began to notice the emergence of a new Instagram profile. No bio, no website. The first post featured an image extracted from a rare photography book by Hans van Manen. The subsequent posts were a diverse mix of paper and digital material ranging from architecture to fashion, from hardcovers to magazines, from lookbooks to catalogs. Undoubtedly original, the feed unmistakably reflected the vision of its creator: former Australian ex-designer and print lover Gregory Brooks. This hidden treasure, then known only as Rare Books Paris, now boasts over 30,000 loyals and a partnership with Alaïa. Already in 2018 the Azzedine Alaïa Association opened a fashion bookstore on Rue de la Verriere, where the designer lived and worked, paying tribute to the Azzedine’s passion for books and archival materials and aimed to underscore the significance of paper materials as a starting point for the presentation and representation of fashion as a historical process.
“I read poetry, a little bit of everything by Baudelaire. And there’s always Mallarmé. I read poetry, but also short texts, correspondence, letters by writers. The first was Céline’s. There are the letters of Madame de Pompadour, of Balzac, Voltaire’s correspondence. Napoleon, too.”
