Pieter Mulier sculpts grace and sexuality for Alaïa AW22.
For Pieter Mulier’s second collection at Alaïa, the house partnered with the Picasso administration to translate ceramic works by Pablo Picasso into a sequence of embroidered and knitted dresses. Taking on the maison of Monsieur Alaïa in 2021, the French designer has honoured a legacy that is incredibly hard to describe in any words other than timeless art. The collection, shown in the heart of Alaïa, Rue de la Verriere, opened with a flared black bodysuit with an oversized neck spanning the lower half of the face and completed with ephemeral bangles on each arm. Presenting like a sculpture indeed, it was a celebration of the body and a celebration of the layered beauty of the feminine and masculine energy – a lingua franca introduced by Azzedine Alaïa in the 1980s.
The looks further exemplified that much like Azzedine, Pieter Mulier is only interested in timelessness, with the subject leading the inspiration. Such was seen in a myriad of ways – and shapes – as brilliantly shaped bodysuits with oversized turtlenecks and dramatically flared boots walked right after sculpted leather gowns with buckle fastenings. Meticulously detailed masculine black tailoring met perennial white flared dresses with cutaway collars morphing the fluid energy between strong lines and romantic shapes. A selection of Picasso-inspired dresses were also crafted in collaboration with the Picasso Foundation, showcasing the Tanagras, a series of female forms created by Pablo Picasso in the 1940s.
At Mulier’s Alaïa, timeless beauty and elegant sexuality lead first. The Alaïa woman is powerful in her language, with a multitude of love and confidence, always sexy and never garish, something Monsieur Azzedine Alaïa solidified with his extensive legacy and attention to exceptional detail in his collections. Pieter Mulier’s intricate understanding of the DNA of the maison has allowed him to educate a whole different generation on the beauty behind elegance, confidence and powerful sexuality – and doing so with a piercingly graceful personal touch.
