“It Was Like Looking at the Sistine Chapel”: Dara and Lyas on Alaïa SS25

FRIDAY 12:24 AM SEPTEMBER 6, 2024 UPPER EAST SIDE

On Friday evening, our fashion director Dara and our brand-new fashion correspondent Lyas attended their very first Alaïa show. That alone would’ve been exciting enough, but then Interview‘s Spring 2024 cover star Rihanna entered the Guggenheim Museum, taking her place in the front row alongside a spate of icons including Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista. “The room went silent,” Dara told Lyas when the two recapped the label’s return to New York City over dinner after the show. “You could hear a pin drop.” As for the clothes themselves? “A lot of skin, a lot of body, but still elegant,” they declared. Below, they discuss the key to yet another stand-out collection from designer Pieter Mulier: listening to the fabrics.

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LYAS: The energy in the room when Rihanna entered.

DARA: Oh my God.

LYAS: That was insane.

DARA: The room went silent. You could hear a pin drop. You could hear the beads of her Alaïa gown.

LYAS: The beads. The footsteps. Everyone was gagged.

DARA: It was so glamorous.

LYAS: Naomi, Anna, everyone was gagged. And so were we.

DARA: It was beautiful. It was almost religious. Editor’s note, please spell religious, R-I-H. Thank you.

LYAS: Rihligious.

DARA: Rihligious, yes.

LYAS: And then the music by Gustave Rudman, who’s an amazing French composer. He did the soundtrack for Euphoria, but he also did it for this show with an orchestra of 50 people three days before the show. And until three hours before, they were still editing the soundtrack to make it perfect.

DARA: Wow. Really?

LYAS: Yeah. To the pace of the models.

DARA: The beautiful thing was the music started and then you saw one head bobbing up and down behind the Guggenheim spiral, and then another one following a few feet away. And then it kept going and going down the spiral and you didn’t see any clothes. You just saw their heads moving and the music kept swelling. It created such anticipation. It was beautiful. And then Mona [Tougaard] walked out…

LYAS: Mona arrived, opening the show.

DARA: There were these balloon pants and these skirts with the little bandeau tops.

LYAS: The jewelry, too.

DARA: Oh yeah, the fringe earrings that connected to each other.

LYAS: And also the earring that connected to the top. Did you see that?

DARA: Yes, yes.

 LYAS:That was so elegant and somehow so sexy.

DARA: It was a very sexy show. A lot of skin, a lot of body, but still elegant.

LYAS: It was my first Alaia show. Was it your first?

DARA: Me too. Did you have a favorite look?

LYAS: I think the one that reminded me of Courreges, very space age.

DARA: Yes, the little white dress.

LYAS: It was not the craziest one.

DARA: No, but it was so surprising—

LYAS: And so beautiful.

DARA: In its simplicity.

LYAS: It made me feel very calm.

DARA: I could see so many different women wearing that and looking amazing in it.

LYAS: Yeah, and it was kind of timeless, even though it referenced the ’70s.

DARA: I’ve been saying this to everyone tonight who asked me what I thought about it. So often you see clothes and you see the fabric. The fabric looks unhappy to be made into what it is. It’s tortured into submission. And these fabrics looked so happy to be what they were, even though they were manipulated in such extreme ways to make those drapes. They all looked so effortless.

LYAS: There’s a Galliano quote: “Sometimes, you’ve got to listen to the fabric.”

DARA: Exactly.

LYAS: And I think he really listened to the fabric.

DARA: He really listened and the listening is very sensitive. It’s a true sensitivity to the fabric. And it was a very beautiful space to be in, with the soft white light and all those amazing people.

LYAS: So many supermodels.

DARA: So many supermodels, so many fashion icons from every generation interacting, having moments. We saw Karlie Kloss and Naomi Campbell join hands across a seat.

LYAS: That was so cool.

DARA: It was like looking at the Sistine Chapel. It was like god and Adam. It was pretty fab.