MASTERS OF COUTURE: This fall, La Galerie Dior is seeing double.
In the first partnership of its kind, the exhibition space at the brand’s historic flagship in Paris has teamed with the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation to stage a double exhibition highlighting Alaïa’s vast collection of vintage Dior.
Alaïa, who kept his sprawling collection a secret during his lifetime, amassed some 600 pieces of vintage Dior, of which the majority were pieces designed by founder Christian Dior, alongside a selection of creations by his successors Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré and John Galliano.
More than 100 of these are being unveiled for the first time at La Galerie Dior in an exhibition due to run from Nov. 20 to May 3, 2026.
The Azzedine Alaïa Foundation will showcase 30 Dior designs collected by Alaïa alongside a similar number of his own creations, as part of its ongoing series of exhibitions demonstrating how the French couturier of Tunisian origin was influenced by the designers he admired. Dates are still being confirmed.
“Azzedine Alaïa, who was hired by Dior for a few days in 1956, had fond memories of the demanding workshops on Avenue Montaigne,” Dior said in a statement.
Both shows are curated by Olivier Saillard, director of the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation, in collaboration with Gaël Mamine.
“Christian Dior’s models testify to the relentless quest that Azzedine Alaïa had unwaveringly set his heart upon. In search of the mysteries of dresses and the delicate structures that make vaporous petticoats ‘stand up,’ he skillfully brought together the objects of his adolescent dreams,” Saillard said.
Alaïa’s collection got its first major show in 2023 at the Palais Galliera, the Paris fashion museum that Saillard headed from 2010 to early 2018.
Dior has previously worked with Saillard on books, including a series of coffee table tomes from Assouline chronicling each creative director of the brand.
On Nov. 19, Rizzoli will publish the exhibition catalog for La Galerie Dior, titled “Azzedine Alaïa’s Dior Collection,” featuring essays by Laurence Benaïm, Alessandra Ronetti and Saillard.
Damiani will release the book accompanying the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation show, “Azzedine Alaïa and Christian Dior, Two Masters of Couture,” in December.