Alaïa's Design Team Earns High Praise as the Creative Director Search Continues

Last March, Pieter Mulier bid farewell to Alaïa, the House he sat at the helm of for five years. It was a bittersweet goodbye, with the Belgian designer revitalizing the brand in a handful of ways, including debuting It items like the Le Teckel and fishnet Mary-Jane flats. At the same time, the news of his exit made way for his new role as the Creative Director of Versace to be announced. What would happen to Alaïa? That remained a mystery, and in some ways, it remains that way. But with the spring/summer 2027 collection's debut on Saturday, any worries the fashion community had about the House's future were quelled. The design team has it covered, with Boaz Eli, Alaïa's Ready-to-Wear Design Director, leading the charge.

The show took place at the same location Mulier's swan song did: the former Fondation Cartier building on the Boulevard Raspail in Paris. There, editors stood casually as models navigated the space, which was decorated with projections playing on the walls. The collection felt very Alaïa, taking cues from the House's codes that founder Azzedine Alaïa developed. It may not have been the spectacle that Mulier's shows were—think Kendall Jenner traversing the spiral at the Guggenheim Museum on New York City's Upper East Side at the spring/summer 2025 show while Rihanna watched—but it felt special for other reasons. It was an ode to the brand's history and future, and assured attendees that everything at Alaïa would be just fine—great even.

Read more about Alaïa's spring/summer 2027 show below.

Alaïa Spring/Summer 2027

Alaïa Without Pieter Mulier

For five years, the fashion community feasted on Pieter Mulier's Alaïa. When the designer—whose career includes a decades-long tenure as the Head Designer at Raf Simons, four years as the Accessories Director at Jil Sander, four years as Design Director at Christian Dior, and two years as the Creative Director at Calvin Klein—announced his exit from the brand at the beginning of the year, hearts broke. They shattered when he showed his final collection for the House a few months later. Now, it seems, everyone's on the mend, with Boaz Eli, Alaïa's Ready-to-Wear Design Director, unofficially taking the reins—at least for now.

The Design Team Steps Up

The brand has yet to announce Mulier's replacement, but rumors have begun swirling that Eli could be next in line. He's been at the company for two years now, and before Alaïa, he was the Design Director at Burberry under Daniel Lee for a year. Before that, he spent six years working under Jonathan Anderson at Loewe as a senior designer. This was his chance to really show himself, and the overwhelmingly positive reviews coming out of Paris following the spring/summer 2027 show make a strong case for his promotion.

But he didn't do it alone. Eli led a design team that worked under Mulier for years—and it shows. They know the brand exceptionally well, taking cues from Mulier's tenure as well as Azzedine Alaïa's. The collection, as a result, felt undeniably Alaïa. In a world that often feels like musical chairs, this showing was a breath of fresh air. No one designer's distinct POV stood out, but instead, the brand was the star of the show.

Very Azzedine

Did you spot the built-in bustiers? The body-hugging jersey silhouettes? The perfect example of a little black dress? Plus, there were plenty of ruffles to go around. Azzedine Alaïa always put the woman wearing his designs first, crafting pieces that accentuated her natural shape, and that's exactly what we saw from Saturday's show. An olive-green dress was tailored to fit like a glove. Added draping was used to give volume (and a hint of drama) to the model wearing it's hips without any uncomfortable padding or unnecessary additions. The collection was simple, structured, and strong.

Jewel Toned

Though the spring/summer 2027 collection primarily featured a muted palette, the colors that were featured were all jewel tones, another nod to Azzedine's Alaïa. Whereas Mulier often played with brighter or pastel hues, the design team mostly stuck with rich shades of merlot, olive, and eggplant. Others, like sapphire and fuchsia, were also seen in the collection. By opting for these colors, the collection as a whole had a very elevated, sophisticated look to it, as well as an ease of versatility that customers will surely appreciate come spring.

A Trend Forms

It started at Prada. Models at the spring/summer 2027 show donned bra tops with Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons' many iterations of a skirt. In the days that followed, the fashion community brought the styling concept to the streets of New York, Paris, Milan, and more stylish cities, sharing their looks online for the world to see (and save for later inspiration). Now, the technique continues at Alaïa, with one model debuting a pastel-pink iteration with a wrap bra and an asymmetric skirt adorned with delicate ruffles. One collection doesn't make a trend, but two does. And so, the 2027 way to wear a skirt has arrived.