Questions about Azzedine Alaïa, the king of cling, and his house after him, answered from Ayerhs’s Alaïa archive and runway reviews.
By Shreya S · Last reviewed 31 October 2026
On this page: The house and its founder · The designers · The collections · The Ayerhs view
The house and its founder
Who was Azzedine Alaïa?
A Tunisian-born designer who trained as a sculptor in Tunis before moving to Paris in the late 1950s. He dressed private clients for years before showing his own collections, and in the 1980s became famous as the “king of cling” for body-sculpting knits, stretch fabrics and precise cutting. He died in Paris in November 2017.
Why did Alaïa ignore the fashion calendar?
He believed clothes should be shown when they were ready, not when the schedule demanded. For much of his career he presented collections privately in his Paris studio, in his own time, and refused to rush his craft.
Who owns Alaïa?
The Swiss group Richemont, majority owner since 2007.
The designers
What did Pieter Mulier do at Alaïa?
The Belgian designer, formerly Raf Simons’s right hand, became Alaïa’s creative director in 2021, the first since the founder’s death. He kept the house’s sculpted body-consciousness but made it sharper, more minimal and more tactile. His final collection was Fall 2026, shown in March 2026, before he left to lead Versace.
Read on Ayerhs: Mulier moving forward · Mulier’s final chapter
Who is the creative director of Alaïa now?
As of October 2026, Alaïa has not named a successor to Pieter Mulier. We will update this answer when a new creative director is announced.
The collections
Which Azzedine Alaïa collections should you know?
Ayerhs’s archive covers Alaïa’s own work from 1989 to 1999, the height of his body-sculpting style.
Read on Ayerhs: Fall 1989 · Fall 1990 · Spring 1991 · Fall 1991 · Fall 1992 · Spring 1999
Which Mulier collections should you know?
Read on Ayerhs: Fall 2022 · Spring 2023 · Fall 2023 · Spring 2025 · Fall 2025 · Spring 2026 · Fall 2026
The Ayerhs view
Why does Alaïa still matter?
Because Alaïa stands for the opposite of fast fashion: clothes built slowly around the body, shown when ready. Mulier proved the house could evolve without losing that discipline; whoever comes next inherits one of the purest identities in fashion.