Azzedine Alaïa | Couture Fall 2011

Azzedine Alaïa presented on July 7th in Paris his Couture Fall 2011 collection. Alaïa is known to be an acolyte of Madame Grès. The Grès show has become a cause célèbre, not just because of the sublime workmanship, but because the clothes themselves are startlingly contemporary.

His focus was as sharp as the laser cutting that created the latticed velvet on his eveningwear. The coat-dress, cuted from the substantial felted wool that is an Alaïa favorite, it had a rounded, slightly dropped shoulder, a bell-shaped flaring from inverted pleats on the hips and a padded texture to the skirt.

Alaïa has worked with the same mill in Italy for the last 30 years. Such an enduring relationship has allowed technical feats like this collection's short fitted jackets, as well as evening dresses that limned the body to the hips, dipped to cup the bum, then erupted into flamencolike tiers of ruffles.

Here I picked my favourites.

{source: style.com}