SPOTLIGHT ON: AZZEDINE ALAIA PHOTO SHOOT IN T-STYLE MAGAZINE

The legendary African born couturier, Azzedine Alaia is honored with a special spread in T Style Magazine

new york - mommy, money, love and alaia - these are the top things that make me smile - genuinely - from the inside out. the latter, of course, is the esteemed azzedine alaia, the tunis born designer who made his mark in paris. as a young ma alaia, who hails from a family of farmers, moved to paris where he began babysitting. the job allowed him to simultaneously further his passion for creating couture while attracting a clientele of wealthy french mothers who were drawn to his bold aesthetic. he moved on to work in the atelier's of fellow legends like mr. christian dior, mr. guy laroche and ( i diiiee for this man) mr. thierry muglier. in the 1970s alaia spun off to start his own atelier out of his apartment on rue de bellechase. for the next 20 years he operated exclusively out of there attracting a devoted following which included grace jones, tina turner and greta garbo. while he continues to be popular today, alaia reached a zenith in the 1980s. since then he's partnered with prada, been honored with numerous retrospectives and has attracted a new list of devoted fans including madonna and our first lady, michelle obama. the new york times style magazine recently did a style retrospective on him which featured a beautiful photo shoot starring model sessilee lopez. the clothing, lighting, styling, hair, make up - all of it - is supreme and worthy of the amazing talent it seeks to highlight. kudos to andrew richardson, the stylist, alasdair mclellan, the photog as well as didier malige who did the hair.

INTRODUCING THE BLAY ARCHIVES....

new york - so blaynistas, i have been knee deep in research for my masters program. the past few weeks have seen me immersed in (and sleeping on) various books about four designers who have always intrigued me: yves saint laurent, coco chanel, cristobal balenciaga and christian dior. in honor of the first two, i have purchased a yves saint laurent rive gauche spring blazer (pics to come) and ofcourse my new chanel bag (one of many more to come, and you already saw the pics!!). i don't know that i want to invest my money in anything by dior or balenciaga at this point, but i've surely invested my time and it's been well worth it. these designers are fascinating and have inspired me to create a new section on this site where i give a quick snap shot of the designers we know - or don't know - and love - or maybe loath. i hope you like this new column, and as always, your thoughts are appreciated. x, zb

THE BLAY ARCHIVES: JACQUES FATH

t.b.r - does the name jacques fath ring a bell? probably not. that's because outside of the inner circles of the fashion industry and the couture world, very few people know who jacques fath was and his significance to fashion. but the fact is if you know dior, balmain, and balenciaga - then you ought to know fath. in his time, fath was an equal to all three and in fact trained some of the world's greatest designers: garavani valentino, guy laroche and hubert de givenchy. all worked as his design assistant before striking out on their own. he debuted his first collection in 1937 after teaching himself to create couture through books and studying museum exhibits. he put his own stamp on clothing by using ingenius materials like hemp sacks, and sequins made from walnut shells. ava gardner, greta garbo and rita hayworth are just a few of the screen sirens who flocked to him. he died in 1954 from leukemia and his company shut down in 1957. it was sold several times, and revived again in the 1990s, only to be sold once more in 2006 by the alliance designer group.

above are vintage looks from the hous of fath. (various websites)