Azzedine Alaïa was considered a designer’s designer in his lifetime. The same can be said for photographer and contemporary artist Thomas Demand. An artist’s artist. Alaïa became famous for sculpting leather clothes on women’s curves and Demand for building miniature models of historically significant events and then photographing them.

Alaïa showed off schedule and dictated his own rhythm just like Demand who alternates between major museum retrospectives or gallery showings of current work.

What a wonderful idea of the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation to invite Demand to look at the patterns of the designer, which represent his personal design history.

Presented in two exhibitions at the London gallery Sprüth Magers and at the M Museum at Leuven in Belgium in 2021, the photos celebrate the fragility and poetry of the paper prints of Azzedine Alaïa’s clothes. These flat patterns, used for the creation of three-dimensional clothing, are captured here in the two-dimensional format of the photograph.

Curled up and folded, perforated and serrated, they bear traces of time, and their shapes speak of garments, bodies and silhouettes. They are resting, it seems, as still lifes testifying to a very dynamic and active life, some movement still latently visible in the folds. The photographic detail reproduces the marks of the work: fingerprints, folds, perforations and tears. This random assembly of cardboard, paper and tracing paper silhouettes, in the colors of the rainbow, plays hide-and-seek with Thomas Demand’s lens, stated the press release and added a quote from the artist:

“You don’t know if they are going to find themselves picked up eventually, or become part of another artwork, and that’s what I liked about the studio situation here, where you just don’t know.”–Thomas Demand

Achtung had the pleasure to chat with Demand at the opening of his presentation at the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation last February, also coinciding with a retrospective of his work at the Jeu de Paume. We took the chance to ask him how he defines art and fashion. Here it is what he told us:

“Art is a diverse range of creative activities that involve the production of visual, auditory, or performance-based works that are intended to communicate ideas, emotions, or experiences to an audience. It is a means of expressing oneself, conveying a message, or exploring the world around us through a variety of mediums such as painting, sculpture, music, theater, dance, literature, and film. Art can be both a personal expression and a reflection of the society and culture in which it is created. It often challenges our perceptions and stimulates our senses, and can be appreciated for its beauty, originality, and skill. Ultimately, art is a reflection of the human experience and has the power to inspire, transform, and enrich our lives.”

“Fashion is a popular style or trend in clothing, accessories, or other decorative items that is constantly changing over time. It is a way for individuals to express their personality and cultural identity through the clothes they wear and the way they present themselves to the world. Fashion is influenced by a variety of factors including cultural and social norms, historical events, technological advancements, and personal preferences. It can be both functional and artistic, and often reflects the prevailing attitudes and values of a particular time or place.”

Title image: Partial close up from Towhee (2020) by Thomas Demand. © Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2021. Courtesy Sprüth Magers.

(This article was updated in March 2023)