One of modern fashion's most legendary names, Azzedine Alaïa comes from simple beginnings in a farming family in Tunisia. But his natural creativity and sense of glamour led him to study sculpture and this is where his inherent understanding of the female form first emerged. After moving to Paris in 1957, his career as a dressmaker began to take shape, working for a string of well-known houses such as Christian Dior and Guy Laroche. His own line followed in 1980 and Alaïa has never looked back. His designs are timeless yet modern, with a body-conscious signature that has won him numerous celebrity fans including Grace Jones, Madonna and Naomi Campbell, who remains his muse till this day