Freedom

Description

In the 1970s, despite not yet knowing each other, Azzedine Alaia and Arthur Elgort were about to go down the same path. The former realized that fashion had changed: it was now no longer so much in the salons that fashion had to be appreciated but in the street. The latter, Arthur Elgort, then a young photographer for the English edition of Vogue, was in the process of establishing a new vision of photography. His snapshots would soon define a lighter, more informal photographic style of great spontaneity. At the same time as the fashion designer was seeing his feminine ideal embodied in the street and worn by an ever-increasing number of clients, the photographer was leaving the studio, opening the windows, and taking over movement and cities as a natural and new setting. Both actively contributed to renewing the representation of the now assertive, determined and independent woman. This long collaboration is now the subject of an upcoming exhibition in Paris at the Fondation Azzedine Alaia running from January 22 to June 29 2023 and the accompanying monograph, entitled Freedom, which presents more than 150 timeless classic black-and-white pictures.

Azzedine Alaia (1935-2017) was one of the world's most major and creative fashion designers of the XXI century. During his life was known as the master couturier who celebrated the beauty of the female body. He always ignored trends and the strict collection calendar. Instead he thought with his hands and gave his ideas forms by draping and sculpturing directly on a model's body. Arthur Elgort, born in 1940 in New York City, is one of the best-known and most emulated photographers in the world. For over 50 years Arthur has been a major influence, from his Vogue covers to his luxury-brand ad campaigns, his work is an inspiration. He has published eight books to date.