In this week’s blog, Costume Society News Editor Dr Babette Radclyffe-Thomas reviews the current exhibition on show at the Alaïa foundation, Paris.
Twenty years after the Alaïa foundation’s first exhibition of multi-disciplinary designer Shiro Kuramata (1934-1991)’s work, the foundation welcomes back a range of his innovative designs. For the first time ever though, Kuramata’s work is linked with Alaïa’s work and the design similarities between the two are explored and juxtaposed in Alaïa/Kuramata: Lightness in Creation curated by Carla Sozzani and Olivier Saillard.
Alaïa was a great admirer of Kuramata’s work and from the 2000s onwards he collected 25 of Kuramata’s pieces. Their shared relationship with sculpture and a fascination with abstraction are explored across twenty pieces of furniture and objects and almost twenty haute couture creations. Furniture and clothing designs are grouped by colour throughout the exhibition, such as Kuramata’s 3-tier transparent acrylic structure with neon flashes Cabinet de Curiousité (1989) is placed next to a SS1983 RTW diamond shaped cut-out top in electric blue, lemon yellow, mint green and turquoise silk chiffon and black lambskin leather skirt.
Kuramata’s black Pyramid drawer unit (1968) is placed next to Alaïa’s SS14 RTW long dress in black visose and lurex jacquard knit with openwork seams. A white bondage wedding gown, a special creation after a SS90 design, in viscose, polyamide and elastane knit mirrors the folds of the Oba-Q (or Ghost Lamp) lamp in white moulded plastic (1972). A bright red acrylic plastic revolving cabinet (1970) is paired with a SS86 RTW top and skirt in red acetate knit.
The similarities in approaches to materials is also explored in pairings. A two-seater sofa, How High is the Moon (1986), made from metal mesh, mirrors a 2011 couture long dress with structured peplum in black laser cut velvet. Alaïa was also interested in the use of metal in clothing, as later in his career he used thin metal mesh, which like muslin, could be fitted into the folds of a velvet dress or draped over a bust.
From the 1960s onwards light was a key element in Kuramata’s work and he was fascinated by acrylic. “The biggest problem is gravity. We must think about how to erase it,” Kuramata once said, shown notably in his acrylic furniture that embody how he made lines disappear, similar to Alaïa’s quest for invisible stitching.
The designers’ shared sensibilities are demonstrated throughout the exhibition with quotes, such as their thoughts on the detrimental speed of creation.
“I think it is the speed that is the making – or the undoing – of today’s Japanese design…I feel that it’s time to slow down a little and engage more in contemplation,” Kuramata said, while Alaïa observed: “In 1993, I wanted to break away from the system imposed by the seasonal runway shows and concentrate on the clothes instead of tiny changes in fashion. I think I can say that my pieces are timeless: they’ve been created for times to come.”
In the upstairs room there are Issey Miyake pieces on show, since Kuramata created around 200 of the designer’s boutiques. All the pieces on show came from the collections of the foundation. The exhibition ran until February 16th 2025.
Babette has previously reviewed international exhibitions, most recently visiting Armani/Silos in Milan; catch up with her experience on our blog.
