Azzedine Alaia Arthur Elgort : Freedom

In the 1970s, despite not yet knowing each other, Azzedine Alaïa and Arthur Elgort were about to go down the same path. The former realised that fashion had changed: it was now no longer 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, more informal vision of photography.

This extensive monograph, entitled Freedom, presents more than 150 timeless classic black-and-white pictures of their long collaboration between the two of them.

In the 1970s, despite not yet knowing each other, Azzedine Alaïa and Arthur Elgort were about to go down the same path. The former realised 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 Alaïa 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.