Adrian Appiolaza and Carla Sozzani: "Our shared obsession? Vintage""
Adrian Appiolaza, Argentine designer and soul of Moschino with a past at Loewe, meets Carla Sozzani, gallery owner, collector and guardian of the legacy of Azzedine Alaïa. To discuss their shared passion for vintage fashion
"An ordered collection of objects of the same kind, which have value either for their intrinsic value or for their historical or artistic or scientific interest or simply for curiosity or personal pleasure". This is how the dictionary defines the term collection . It's a shame that that description lacks a fundamental aspect, the irrepressible, inextinguishable passion that pervades those who put those collections together. Take Adrian Appiolaza , Argentine designer who has been creative director of Moschino since last January after a past at Chloé alongside Phoebe Philo, Miu Miu, Louis Vuitton and Loewe with Jonathan Anderson. And Carla Sozzani , grand dame of fashion, journalist, founder in 1991 of 10 Corso Como , art gallery owner, collector in herself and custodian of the immense legacy of Azzedine Alaïa, approximately 35 thousand pieces gathered over time by the couturier and today part of the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa in Paris. The two met at Moschino's headquarters in Milan and it didn't take them long to discover their shared obsession that lights up their eyes with a childlike enthusiasm. And that is also celebrated in a book coming out now, "Collecting Fashion" by Alexandra Carl, published by Rizzoli New York where the author visits the archives of great collectors including Appiolaza and Sozzani.
L'OFFICIEL: How did you start collecting fashion?
ADRIAN APPIOLAZA: The first spark dates back to the mid-80s when I was still living in Argentina. It wasn't easy to get in touch with fashion there and I remember the excitement of getting my hands on a copy of "The Face" found in a second-hand shop: suddenly I discovered Comme des Garçons . A few years later I moved to the UK and there fashion hit me with all its power. In addition to Comme, there were Margiela, Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake. When I entered the sector I started to do in-depth research on them and, thanks to eBay, to buy the first pieces to understand the construction of the clothes and study the materials. Around 2010 I realized I had a certain number of pieces and I felt the need to understand which season they belonged to. From there I started to order them.
CARLA SOZZANI: For me it was very different. I started working in fashion in '68, I saw so much. In '67 Yves Saint Laurent opened his ready-to-wear boutique and from that moment everything changed. With my sister Franca (historical director of Vogue Italia who passed away in 2016, ed.) we bought like crazy. Up until then, for a certain type of clothing there was only couture, but at Saint Laurent you could go in, try on and take home straight away, it was incredible and I still have several pieces purchased in that period. When Versace opened his store, a line formed that went all the way around the block. And then Montana, Thierry Mugler, Armani. I bought it for myself, at that time I wasn't thinking about collecting. It was during the period with Romeo Gigli that I started buying also to do research, to find inspiration, not to mention that at the time I was constantly wearing jeans, I have a collection of those too.
LO: What is your relationship with the leaders you now guard?
AA: It’s always exciting for me. In the early days, I wore what I could salvage. Often they were women’s pieces but with oversized proportions so I could wear them. Now, every time something new arrives, we organize a little party with my partner, Ryan Benacer , who actively takes care of the archive, currently about 8,000 pieces. We open the box, place the new entry on one of the mannequins we keep at home, where the most spectacular Comme des Garçons looks usually hang, and we enjoy it.
CS: With the opening of 10 Corso Como I started to think like a buyer and to archive things that I thought should be kept. Once I bought a piece of Comme des Garçons that was so beautiful that I wanted to leave it on display in the store for a while. A customer saw it and, due to a misunderstanding, they sold it to her. When I found out, I didn't want to listen to reason: I called the person to ask for the dress back, explaining what had happened. These things happen when you really love something. When the space dedicated to jewelry opened, Issey Miyake came to Milan bringing me four dresses as a gift, yellow and orange. They were like works of art, I displayed them in the store and I still have them.
AA: I think about when I managed to buy the Martin Margiela porcelain vest from the 1989-90 autumn winter collection. For years I told myself I would never find one, then I got in touch with someone who had worked at Artisanal and he suggested the name of a lady. "She should have something because she was the one who made them," he said, so I looked for her and out of nowhere, I found two!
LO: How do you manage your respective archives?
CS: Mine is all catalogued and practically intact. I have just sold a few doubles, to promote the concept of circular economy, but I do not intend to dismember it. On the contrary, I evaluate the acquisitions of what will be the great vintage of tomorrow. I am thinking of Balenciaga designed by Nicolas Ghesquière. He did an exceptional job and today you can still buy quite well.
AA: Ryan lost his job during the pandemic and focused his energies on the archive. We promoted it through a newsletter sent to people in the industry and now we regularly rent the pieces for research, but also for celebrities looking for something special, like Katy Perry at the recent Vogue World in Paris. I like the idea that those pieces can still be worn. If they are always locked in the warehouse they no longer have a life.
CS: I'm always a little afraid that they'll ruin them. What if they go to a party and stain or tear them? But you're right, when we organized an exhibition with the clothes that belonged to my sister, you could see that the clothes were happy to come out of the boxes.
LO: Carla, what is Azzedine Alaïa's collection like?
CS: Incredible. There are about 35 thousand pieces, including roughly 500 Dior and 600 Balenciaga, just to give you some numbers, there are also pieces by Jeanne Lanvin, Paul Poiret, Hollywood costume designer Adrian, Madeleine Vionnet and Madame Grès, not to mention Jean-Paul Gaultier, Rei Kawakubo, Courrèges, Gabrielle Chanel. Azzedine was a perfectionist, he studied everything down to the millimetre, he was never satisfied with his work. And he had an immense love for fashion. Once we went to an auction together, it was around 2004 and as we sat down he said to me: "I promise, I won't buy anything". After a while I see the price continue to rise while he furtively runs a finger over his nose. He had agreed on that signal with the batter and he didn't even stop in front of my protests: "Stop it, we don't have all that money", I told him, but it was no use.
LO: Adrian, are there any new major acquisitions in the pipeline?
AA: John Galliano is Ryan and I’s new obsession. The creativity and quality of his collections is incredible, the problem is the prices. He’s reaching outrageous figures . I console myself by thinking back to one of the most incredible purchases of my life.
LO: And that is?
AA: I bought Martin Margiela pieces directly from Kristina de Coninck. She was his muse and I was lucky enough to meet her through mutual friends. She invited me to her house, opened her closets and agreed to sell me some pieces, knowing my great passion for Margiela. It was a moment I will never forget.
LO: Carla, do you have any special initiatives related to the archives in the pipeline?
CS: I was just talking about it the other day with Olivier Saillard (director of the Fondation, and former director of the Musée de la Mode in Marseille and the Palais Galliera - Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, ed.), to make an exhibition there must be a meaning, a narrative, each piece must be able to tell a story. I'm thinking of the Alexander McQueen pieces that I knew from the time he came to Italy to work with Romeo Gigli, but at the moment it's just an idea.
