Educative Programmes

The Foundation pursues an educational mission through collaborations with schools and fashion institutions and also awards grants to visionary young fashion talent. While being attentive to Azzedine Alaïa’s desires in the preservation of his memory and a commitment to education, the Foundation proposes a program of support for cultural activities, conferences on the study and preservation of costume and fashion archives, as well as teaching the history of fashion. 

AZZEDINE ALAÏA AWARDS AND GRANTS

The Foundation, together with the Association of Friends of Azzedine Alaïa and the Cercle des Métiers de la Mode, under the patronage of Farida Khelfa, means to foster the learning and knowledge of the techniques of cut that the founder embodied to the highest level.

The Azzedine Alaïa Foundation, according to the wishes of its founding couturier, plans to turn its attention and benevolence towards all professional schools engaged in the rigorous transmission of the methods and practices of the crafts of cut and couture.By identifying, recognizing and rewarding each year one or more students of cut from French and Tunisian schools, the Foundation also chooses to reward students whose social or geographical backgrounds have been underprivileged or disadvantaged. A grant (residency) will be granted to the most gifted of the students identified on these terms and the Foundation will contribute their building of a bright future.

The Foundation, in partnership with Orveda and under the patronage of Nicolas Vu, CEO & Co-Founder of Orveda, supports the next generation of fashion talent.

Twice a year, a jury will choose two talents based on their atypical and aspirational profiles, who will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the latest projects and missions of the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation and have privileged access to the archives. They will also benefit from the support of a reference tutor in collaboration with the Parsons School in Paris. The winner will be asked to create a mini-collection, inspired by the knowledge of Azzedine Alaïa’s immense heritage.

 THE NETWORK CULTURE(S) DE MODE.

The Foundation supports the network “Culture(s) de Mode” in its initiatives for research and the promotion of the diffusion of knowledge with conferences on the study and preservation of costume and fashion archives.

The association “Culture(s) de Mode” was founded in 2018 with the support of the French Ministry of Culture following a report submitted to the ministry on the subject of Public and Private Collections of Fashion. Under the leadership of its President Olivier Saillard, it reunites all individuals, teachers and archivists, who have chosen the study and preservation of costume and fashion archives in France. This network, rich in over 450 members, develops, encourages and supports all initiatives for fashion research in France. The association intends ‘fashion research’ to cover a wide spectrum of all those who analyze, decipher, write about, preserve, restore and create fashion.

This network welcomes students, professors, researchers, museum curators, archivists, designers, engineers, theoricians, praticians, philosophers, historians, sociologists, anthropologists, writers, journalists, and enthusiasts alike. In the same vein, the term ‘fashion’ is meant in the broader sense, encompassing clothing, accessories, textiles, appearance, and consumer practices.

AN OPEN SCHOOL

An open school for the teaching of fashion history, the Foundation aims to promote the teaching of fashion history. Still today, fashion history is not always systematically present in higher education, nor held in high regard. Olivier Saillard, author of Bouquin de la mode published by Robert Laffont Editions, plans to commit to the diffusion of the history of fashion and costume through a series of conferences that may focus on a particular theme or the study of a garment from the Foundation’s collections.