A dress for Jessye Norman

In 1989, under François Mitterrand’s presidency and following a proposal by Minister of Culture Jack Lang, Jean-Paul Goude was invited to design a parade to commemorate the bicentennial of the French Revolution. The parade, which comprised a number of allegorical tableaux, took place on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Azzedine Alaïa was closely associated with the project, having been eagerly asked to participate by Jean-Paul Goude, who was a long-standing friend.

Alaïa designed and made velvet coats embroidered with gold for the musicians and dancers. For Jessye Norman, who was invited to sing La Marseillaise, he designed a gown that has gone down in history, which he cut and draped from the flag of France. Famous for being the sole heir of the great couturiers and for mastering all the stages of the design and making of exceptional clothes, Tunisian-born Azzedine Alaïa was, and remains, a powerful symbol of integration and artistic accomplishment.

Throughout his life, Alaïa never stopped paying tribute to the country that welcomed him and fostered the development of his craft. More than all the medals that successive ministers awarded him for his talent and for the cultural impact of his work, what Alaïa prized most was his French citizenship certificate.