Oriental
Azzedine Alaia
Alaïa: The debut in perfumery of the famous couturier Azzedine Alaïa
Azzedine Alaïa, a famous couturier whose sharp signature is engraved in the sculpted leather of the 1980s, created his very first fragrance in 2015: “Alaïa”. This signature fragrance, singular in its notes, captures in scent the very “perforated” and glamorous world of the couturier while seeking to reveal his sun-drenched childhood memories of Tunisia. Will the house of Alaïa continue to move us with its fragrances of escape?
Azzedine Alaia perfumes
Azzedine Alaïa, the couturier in love with the sensual Woman
The world of haute couture in Azzedine Alaïa’s creations is of course linked to the second-skin dresses that enchanted the magnificent Greta Garbo, but also Louise Morin or even Arletty. In the 1980s, Madonna rushed to the couturier to dress her sparkling curves, just as more recently Lady Gaga or Rihanna have done.
The couturier, enamored of the curvaceous forms that so beautifully fill his tailored leather corsets or his skin-tight gloved dresses, the one who “was the first to work leather like a fabric or a lace”, could not create a fragrance that did not resemble him. This perfumery project would therefore be entrusted to a talented nose capable of listening to all of the designer Alaïa’s wishes without betraying them, Marie Salamagne.
Surrounded by a team wholly devoted to his fragrance project, Azzedine Alaïa released “Alaïa” in 2015, a glamorous and intoxicating fragrance, in keeping with the creations of the haute couture house.
“Alaïa”, the striking cold-hot contrast, the first fragrance of the house of Alaïa
Since couturier Alaïa had long resisted the lure of perfumery, unlike many couturiers of his era, his very first fragrance had to be original and entirely in keeping with the mysterious and brilliant figure of Alaïa, who refined his creations beyond time and outside any influence.
My fragrance comes from far away, it is a source fragrance. It bears witness to no particular era, but to the emotions of all eras; it comes from no country, for it has crossed them all; it reveals no season, since it dwells in them all. Azzedine Alaïa
Moreover, the couturier had a precise idea in mind that he whispered to the nose Marie Salamagne: the scent of cold water on burning lime. All that remained was to create this timeless fragrance and to imagine its world, or rather its worlds, and its bottle.
Alaïa’s precision and meticulousness bore fruit, and the fragrance “Alaïa” was born in 2015, a small jewel of delicately suggested spicy and leathery floral scents, enhanced by a “perforated” bottle design perfected by Martin Szekely.
The world of perfumery eagerly awaited Alaïa’s creative genius applied to an exceptional fragrance. It was fully satisfied by this first fragrance, “Alaïa”, impressionistic and elusive, while also being devilishly feminine and in complete continuity with the designer’s perfectionism. If, for Azzedine Alaïa, creating a fragrance is like confiding in a woman, stealing her thoughts of the future and fleeing before she turns around, then clearly the house of Alaïa’s next creation will also be a great success.