Sometimes friendship can inspire and influence. The Azzedine Alaïa Foundation in Paris is exhibiting a few dozen looks showing how the styles of the Franco-Tunisian designer and of Thierry Mugler interacted with each other, despite their profound differences.

Voluptuous waistlines, statement shoulders, looks sometimes inspired by Africa. The Azzedine Alaïa, Thierry Mugler, 1980-1990, deux décennies de connivences artistiques exhibition, open until June 29 in Paris, showcases more than 70 dresses, coats and jumpsuits by the two designers, loaned from Alaïa’s personal collection.

The exhibition’s leitmotif is a chromatic journey that begins with a series of black garments and continues with a sequence of white, red, green and gold looks.

Mugler, who died in 2023, was famous for his feel for glamour and fantastical looks, while Alaïa, who passed away in 2017, was better known for his lower-key style.

Nevertheless, both “greatly admired the 1930s and 1950s, and they referenced Hollywood much more clearly than other designers,” said Olivier Saillard, fashion historian and the exhibition’s curator, speaking to AFP. 

In some of the looks, the similarities are so striking that “we don’t really know who designed what,” said Saillard. 

Alaïa and Mugler first met in the late 1970s. Alaïa, who was working for some of the great houses at the time, was asked by Mugler to create the dinner jackets for his Fall/Winter 1979-80 collection.

The collaboration encouraged Alaïa to embark on a solo career, urged by Mugler, who went as far as to accompany Alaïa in New York in 1982 for his first major show, to help him with production and with the language. 

A few years before his death, Mugler said that his friend “had encouraged him to partake of life a bit more, so that his designs would be less fantastical, and more suited to real women,” said Saillard. 

Conversely, “Mugler thought that, following their closeness, [Alaïa’s style] had become curvier. His lines suddenly became much more enveloping and sensual,” he added. 

This is why the Alaïa Foundation “decided to set up the exhibition as a dialogue, to show the two designers’ kindred spirits,” said Saillard.