Since taking on his role as creative director in February 2021, Mulier has honoured the timeless vision of Azzedine Alaïa and continued to place femininity at the heart of his collections, while bringing the house’s values into the modern era. “I want to create clothes that carry this idea of a modern beauty, always in movement,” he told Wallpaper in a rare interview — and the brand’s growing popularity among a new generation of fashion lovers is a testament to his vision.
First introduced that same year, Alaïa’s Mary-Janes have utterly captivated the fashion crowd, becoming one of the most ubiquitous shoe at fashion month and often selling out. The fishnet design has been growing a large celebrity fanbase that includes the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Kourtney Kardashian and Dakota Johnson; meanwhile, the crystal-embellished version has caused a halo effect trend for the shoe category, with searches for embellished flats increasing 43% on Lyst this quarter.
But these flats are not the only Alaïa products to have reached cult status.
In 2023, the brand’s heart-shaped Le Coeur bag became one of the world’s hottest accessories after debuting in the Winter/Spring 2022 collection, Mulier’s first for Alaïa. “More than just a bag, Le Cœur is a pure voluminous shape. Volumes and sculptural shapes are at the core of my inspiration,” explained Mulier to Harper’s Bazaar.
In his subsequent collections, volumes and sculptural silhouettes have continued to prevail — and with great success. The introduction of the ‘round denim pant’ in the maison’s Summer/Fall 2023 show, with its curvilinear shape, began a new trend for barrel-leg trousers; meanwhile, its Le Teckel bag has already become a fashion insider favourite.
