Alaïa recently welcomed Pieter Mulier as its new Creative Director, launching into the new era with his debut designs—a collection for Winter 2021/Spring 2022. Presented in Paris on rue de Moussy earlier this month, Mulier returned to a familiar muse for the house to inform his first creative concepts.
© Fondation Azzedine Alaïa
Mulier embarked on his journey with the maison from a starting point focused on art. Precision, modernity, and poetic, garments were inspired by the free beauty captured in works of art residing near the Alaïa ateliers—like César’s 1966 enormous bronze model of a molded breast. Informed by the sensual statue, the collection centered silhouettes that accentuated the figure, including body-hugging catsuits, mesh and net garments, and details like plunging necklines, hooded tops, and leather bustiers that buckled at the waist.
Courtesy of Alaïa.
With the help of the Fondation César, Mulier brought the artist’s works to life in a more literal sense, too, taking the form of invitations for the presentation. Limited and numbered like works of art, each invitation—printed at Montparnasse’s Idem printing house—featured imagery based on an original engraving of the Sein created by César in 1970.
Courtesy of Alaïa.
