Check out ‘Alaïa-Adrian: Masters of Cut’, SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film’s latest exhibit
Photo by Valeria Brugueras
The Masters of Cut exhibition is on view from Feb. 10 – Sep. 13 at the SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film. It commemorates the late designers, Azzedine Alaïa and Gilbert Adrian, whose work still influences the fashion industry.
These two designers share an inspiring story. Alaïa was inspired by Adrian, an American costume designer known for his costume design role in the Golden Age era of MGM.
He is also recognized for dressing style icons such as Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo, and by designing the costumes worn on the original movie the Wizard of Oz.
The exhibition consists of Adrian’s tailored suits which SCAD FASH describes as having, “mitered stripes, clever seaming, and unexpected appliqués.” He established himself as having signature looks including strong shoulders and suits with narrow waists.
This exhibition also showcases Azzedine Alaïa’s collected garments from Adrian’s work and how they influenced his own designs. The Tunisian designer first studied sculpture and had no previous knowledge in fashion design, but his developed love fashion design made him leave Tunisia to follow his dreams in Paris.
His sculptural background helped him develop his unique view on how to start creating garments for women: incredibly, Alaïa would start designing them directly on the model’s body.
His signature style, which can be described as fit and cut to an exact proportion showing an aesthetic of cleanliness and perfection, gave Alaïa international recognition as he begun working with top models of the ’90s Grace Jones, Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista.
The Masters of Cut exhibit features garments that are considered iconic, such as the purple banded dress with a hood that Grace Jones once wore.