Azzedine Alaïa’s Stunning Personal Collection of Dior Goes on View in Paris
More than 100 never-before-seen pieces from the couturier’s private holdings join a selection from the maison’s archive in a transcendent show at Galerie Dior
Tucked within Dior’s cinematic Paris flagship at 30 avenue Montaigne, Galerie Dior has mounted breathtaking exhibitions highlighting myriad facets of the maison and its intersection with art. The shows, which change twice a year, lure some 1,500 visitors each day. The newest showcase, which opened November 20, unveils 100 Dior pieces from the collection of the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation, which are being shown for the first time, alongside another 50 examples from the Dior archives, curated by the fashion historian Olivier Saillard, director of the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation.
The collaboration began nearly a decade ago when Olivier Bialobos, Christian Dior Couture and Perfume deputy managing director, global communications and image, initiated a worldwide inventory of Dior collections in public and private hands, the latter of which included couturier Azzedine Alaïa, who was not so inclined to show his cache at that time. After Alaïa passed away in November 2017, his namesake foundation reached out to Dior to see about a joint effort.
Amongst the items the couturier acquired beginning in the late 1960s were exemplary examples created by Christian Dior himself in the first ten years of his atelier, between 1947 and 1957, many conjured within the very walls that now house Galerie Dior.
Among the exceptional pieces on view are a classic suit with “fairground” lapels in wool crêpe by Christian Dior from the Spring-Summer 1949 collection as well as a haute couture “fête au village” from Spring-Summer 1955, circa-1952 Marcel Pagnol evening dress with a silk bolero in silk, and Lancret reception dress in silk faille from the designer’s Autumn-Winter 1957 haute couture collection.
Visitors can trace the parallels between Dior and Alaïa, who worked for the eponymous designer after he arrived in Paris from his home in Tunisia. While the show at Galerie Dior is on view through May 3, 2026, a second installation goes on display at the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation in Paris, starting December 15 and running until May 3, 2026.
“This exhibition traces the story of a collection, of a model, the fabrics, the clients, the show,” says Olivier Flaviano, director of the Galerie Dior, of the show that touches on all of Christian Dior’s 22 collections and spans the history of the maison up through the work of John Galliano. “It illustrates what couture was at that time and explains the idea of a silhouette, the color palette, the architecture of a garment. This is really a reflection of the time and lifestyle at the time of Mr. Dior.”