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The beauty of a fashion archive is the history behind the pieces themselves, not just their design or quality. In the case of a coy Alaïa sale in Paris that opens today, the story is just as much about the sale and store itself as the clothes. To kick off Paris Fashion Week, consultant Dryce Lahssan of the not-so-hidden-hidden boutique of Lahssan Paris on 24 Rue Molière and the curator and archivist Sophia Elizabeth of the vintage hub @thespaghettiarchives are hosting a sale of seven pieces by Azzedine Alaïa.
The signage-less boutique which Lahssan launched in 2020 is both sumptuous and secretive. It only sells one item: a black vinyl trench coat with gold hammered Goossens buttons that Lahssan developed slowly at an Italian factory. “This shop has become a bit of a nice place for my friends to come and sit with me, and talk, and share ideas, and discuss the shows, discuss trends, discuss designers. It’s become like a little salon,” Lahssan says.
The boutique’s social metamorphosis is eventually what led Lahssan to open up his space to host the Alaïa curation today. He reached out to his old friend, the aforementioned vintage savant Sophia Elizabeth. “I told her, ‘I would love for you to make a selection of pieces that would go around my trench coat. Maybe the dress that goes with the trench, the shoe that goes with the trench, a bag that goes with the trench,’ ” says Lahssan. Sophia Elizabeth agreed to do a curation, but there was one stipulation: Everything had to be Alaïa.
After all, Sophia Elizabeth finds a kinship in the Tunisian-born Alaïa, which contributes to her unwavering love. “I am of Mediterranean origin. We women have curves, are voluptuous. and sensual. Mr. Azzedine Alaïa captured its essence, and he has always been one of my favorite designers ever since,” she writes to Vogue. “I wanted through this curation to highlight a few pieces that marked my aesthetics, the way I see fashion.”
The seven pieces for sale include a leopard-print catsuit from the fall 1991 collection and a noir capuche spirale dress from fall 1986. Though one of the most fab and storied items is a black wool and leather beret worn by Naomi Campbell in fall 1991, which she passed off to her hairdresser backstage. There was one issue that Sophia Elizabeth ran into while gathering the pieces: “No one wants to resell their Alaïa pieces!”
Luckily, the rare opportunity to buy vintage Alaïa exists for those invited to the sale, which will go through Fashion Week.
