Honoring Alaïa : Pieter Mulier’s Memorable Summer - Fall 2023 Show
- kikokurative
- Feb 2
- 3 min read
After five years of loyal service, Pieter Mulier is leaving Maison Alaïa. In just a few years, he managed to revive the house while staying deeply faithful to Azzedine Alaïa’s legacy.
We could spend a long time going through all the incredible looks he created for the house, but we’ve chosen to focus on one show in particular that, for us, perfectly reflects Pieter’s love for the house’s heritage : the Summer - Fall 2023 collection.
Pieter Mulier decided to present his Summer - Fall 2023 collection in an absolutely unique setting : his own apartment in Antwerp, Belgium. It wasn’t a runway, a hotel, or a theater, but the very space where he lives with his partner, Matthieu Blazy, himself the artistic director of Bottega Veneta.
The apartment is located in an iconic brutalist tower in Antwerp, featuring raw concrete spaces and expansive city views.
The show took place across the apartment’s different rooms : the living room, kitchen, library, and even the bedroom. The seating wasn’t made up of ceremonial chairs, the designer’s own furniture served as spots for guests, with the bed or the sofa literally acting as seats !
Beyond being unique, this choice was also a direct tribute to Azzedine Alaïa’s way of living and working, where personal and professional life were always intertwined.
At Alaïa, the house was the fashion house.
“If you wanted to find him, there were only two places : his studio and the kitchen” said Carla Sozzani, president of the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation.
In 1987, Azzedine Alaïa bought the BHV warehouse, a completely abandoned 4500 m² space at the corner of Rue de Moussy. He transformed it into his living and working space, installing ateliers, a boutique, a runway, and his private apartments.
For Azzedine, there was no distinction between personal and professional life. Alaïa’s door was always wide open. Friends and colleagues knew they could drop by at any time, as the designer was always ready to welcome anyone.
“I love being surrounded by people. Even now, every day, it’s the same, we all have dinner together. Everything is mixed : people from the atelier, famous personalities, young, old… It comes from my childhood and upbringing. I was raised by my grandmother in Tunisia, and her house was always open. The whole family would come for lunch, and there were always about twenty of us at the table. When I moved into my place in Paris, I recreated exactly the same thing.” Azzedine Alaïa
For years, Azzedine, with the help of Soumaré since the 1970s, regularly cooked not just for themselves but also for atelier staff, models, guests… It’s no coincidence that Pieter Mulier confessed to Vogue that he has a very particular ritual : starting new collections in the kitchen.
“We work here on the beginning of every collection, in the ground floor studio, with the Alaïa team.”
“When I start, I always work in the kitchen. And when I’m in the kitchen, I look up at the cathedral, over there.”
He added : “It’s actually very simple. I didn’t want to do a big show. I didn’t want cold, distant glamour. I wanted to do something very intimate, very small, just as Azzedine liked it.”
Azzedine Alaïa was known to live in his own bubble. He only worked with people he liked, ignored the official fashion calendar, and presented his collections when they were finished, it was that simple.
It’s also no coincidence that since taking over, Mulier sometimes deliberately chose to step outside the traditional calendar (even though it’s more complicated today).
Indeed, several collections were presented outside the official dates of Paris Fashion Week, in intimate, sometimes almost private formats, often in spaces linked directly to Maison Alaïa itself (apartments, internal spaces).
This Summer - Fall 2023 collection will be remembered for its uniqueness as well as the numerous nods to Azzedine Alaïa. The lucky few who attended the show almost brushed shoulders with the models in the intimate setting of Mulier’s home !
In this show, Pieter Mulier maintained the DNA of the house sculpted silhouettes, circular drapes, and a balance between masculine and feminine while adding his personal touch. His Belgian vision is expressed through a minimal yet sensual aesthetic, subtle nods to everyday urban life, and modern details. Mulier asserted his own style while honoring Azzedine Alaïa’s legacy.
Pieter Mulier’s departure is inevitably significant, given all he contributed to Maison Alaïa. The studio team will carry on in the meantime, awaiting a worthy successor.
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