Alaïa’s latest collection begins with history. It transcends the temporal and manifests in the sculptural, always, always, always setting women at its core. Clothes are animated, moving like kinetic sculptures, and as much as the female form inhabits the space within them, so do the various traces of history each silhouette was built on.

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Stirred by the work of sculptor Mark Manders, the Maison turned to the Dutch artist’s pieces as representations of a non-linearity applied to space and time, using his statues to puncture the show space of the Alaïa atelier. In doing so, creative director Pieter Mulier effectively established a common ground, linking the fashion of Alaïa to the macrocosm of abstract art. 

And from there, the runway unfurls.

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Ensembles come alive with pulsating pleats, while dresses cocoon and trenches envelope, adapting their shape to mirror the topography of the female body. Padding and layers function as armor, shielding the wearer in a protective orbit of femininity. Hoods frame faces like glorious halos, and by the end of the show, we can confidently say that Alaïa has introduced something architecturally unique.

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Cuts are controlled, and every curve, line, and contour is intentional. Each garment is unflinching in its structure and audacity, echoing the brand’s M.O. in sartorial (and female) resilience.

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In the collection notes, Mulier writes, “Your body is yours.” In Alaïa, with all its eccentrics and anomalies, that autonomy rings true.

Courtesy of Alaïa