The dressmaker cast out by Dior who quietly saved 600 of its gowns!

When a Tunisian dressmaker arrived in Paris in 1956, he was taken on by Dior but left in tears four days later after being told to quit amid tensions between France and its former colonies.

But Azzedine Alaïa, who went on to become a celebrated designer in his own right, held no grudges.

Instead, he continued to be so inspired by Dior dresses that he bought 600 or so for his heritage collection, which consisted of about 20,000 garments, accessories and shoes.

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Azzedine Alaïa, who became a famous designer despite his false start with Dior, in 2015

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Alaïa and Naomi Campbell at a 2007 party in Venice

ERIC VANDEVILLE/GAMMA-RAPHO/GETTY IMAGES

With Tina Turner at a fashion show and party organised by the French consulate in New York, 1986

VINNIE ZUFFANTE/GETTY IMAGES

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Now two exhibitions in Paris are highlighting the links between Dior and Alaïa, who died in 2017. The first, which opened last month at the Galerie Dior, features 101 of the Dior pieces that Alaïa collected as he scoured private sales, auctions and even flea markets in a search for clothes that marked the history of fashion.

The Dior fashion house thought many of the dresses had disappeared for ever, and had no idea that they were in Alaïa’s possession until it was asked to look through his collection a couple of years ago.

A compulsive purchaser, he stashed the items away in storage rooms and “didn’t have time to sort through them”, according to Olivier Saillard, director of the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa. When one room was so full “that he could no longer get into it, he filled up another”, said Saillard. “It was impossible to locate a dress.”

Olivier Flaviano, director of the Galerie Dior, said Alaïa was “extremely discreet. He never wanted to show us his collection.”

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DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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The second exhibition, which opened on Monday at the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, features 30 Dior creations and a similar number designed by Alaïa. The aim is to show how Alaïa was influenced by the house founded by Christian Dior, the couturier who died in 1957.

Saillard told Le Monde that Alaïa’s fascination for Dior had begun as a young dressmaker in Tunisia. “He had a particular admiration for Dior’s dresses, which he saw in magazines.”