Working in fashion requires an insatiable passion. Building a fashion archive also requires patience, maximum organizational skills and exhausting research. After working with Phoebe Philo at Chloé, with Jonathan Anderson at Loewe, and at Miu Miu and Louis Vuitton, Argentine designer Adrian Appiolaza was tapped in January to take over as creative director of Moschino. His first collection, launched in February in Milan, offered a modern take on the fashion house’s distinctly campy style . On the catwalk, models wore baguettes or totes covered in yellow smiley faces.
Carla Sozzani – journalist, editor, gallery owner, collector and founder of 10 Corso Como – shares Appiolaza’s devotion to the history of fashion. Throughout their careers, both have created personal archives of thousands of pieces that they treasure. They met in Milan, at the Moschino office, with L’Officiel . The conversation was a testament to their passion.
L’OFFICIEL: How did your interest in collecting begin?
ADRIAN APPIOLAZA : It started in the mid-eighties, when I was still living in Argentina. I still remember the excitement that came over me when I found a copy of the English magazine The Face in a second-hand shop. It was there that I discovered Comme des Garçons. A few years later I emigrated to the United Kingdom and there I felt the enormous power of fashion. It wasn’t just Comme, there was Margiela, Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake. When I entered the industry, I did a lot of research. I was able to make my first purchases through eBay. I wanted to better understand the making of clothes and study the materials. Around 2010 I realized that I had a certain number of pieces and I felt the need to know which season they belonged to. From then on I started organizing them.
CARLA SOZZANI: My process was very different. I started working in fashion in 1968; I have seen everything. In 1967, Yves Saint Laurent opened his ready-to-wear boutique. At that time, everything changed. With my sister Franca – the renowned editor of Vogue Italia who passed away in 2016 – we bought like crazy. Until then, it was just couture, but at Saint Laurent, you could go in, try something on and take it home straight away. It was incredible; I still have several of the pieces from those years. When Versace opened its store, there was a queue that went around the corner. And then came Claude Montana, Thierry Mugler, Armani. I bought for myself, I didn’t think about collecting. It was during the 80s, during the period with Romeo Gigli, that I started buying with the idea of research, looking for inspiration. At that time I wore jeans all the time, so I have a collection of those clothes too.
“ I bought for myself, at that time I didn’t think about collecting.” CARLA SOZZANI
L’O: How do you manage your archives?
CS: My collection is all catalogued and practically intact. I have sold some pieces because I wanted to promote the idea of a circular economy. I evaluate my acquisitions thinking of something that will be vintage one day.
AA: During the pandemic, Ryan [Benacer, Appiolaza’s partner] was out of work and focused his energy on the archive. We promote it through a newsletter to key people in the industry. We now regularly rent pieces for research; sometimes to celebrities looking for something special, like Katy Perry at Vogue World 2024 in Paris. [She wore a Noir Kei Ninomiya Fall 2019 dress ]. I like the idea that these clothes can still be worn. If they are always locked away in the closet, they no longer have a life.
CS: I’m always a little afraid of ruining them. If you wear them to a party, you run the risk of getting them stained or torn. But you’re right. Clothes like to come out of their boxes.
L’O: Carla, you were a co-founder of the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation and you are its president. What is the Alaïa collection like?
CS: It’s impressive. It has around 35,000 pieces, including about 500 Diors and 600 Balenciagas, to give you some numbers. But there are also Jeanne Lanvin, Paul Poiret, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Rei Kawakubo, Courrèges and Chanel. Azzedine was a perfectionist, he studied everything down to the last detail, he was never completely satisfied with his work. He was passionate about fashion. Once, around 2004, we went to an auction together. He told me: “I promise I won’t buy anything.” I noticed the price going up when he discreetly raised a finger to the level of his nose. I had agreed to that signal with the auctioneer. “We don’t have that money!” I complained. But he didn’t stop. There was no way to stop him.
L’O: Adrian, do you have any new additions in mind?
AA: My new obsession is John Galliano. The creativity and quality of his collection is incredible, the problem is the prices. They are reaching stratospheric levels. I console myself by thinking of one of the most incredible acquisitions I ever made. I bought some Martin Margiela pieces from [Belgian model] 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 wardrobe and agreed to sell me some clothes, because she knew of my passion for Margiela. It is a moment I will never forget.
L’O: What is your relationship with the pieces in your archive?
AA: Every time something new comes in, we celebrate with my partner, who personally takes care of maintaining the archive: currently around 8,000 pieces. After opening the box, we dress one of the mannequins we have at home, which contains the most spectacular Comme des Garçons looks , in the new garment. When 10 Corso Como opened, I started to think like a buyer and to archive the things that I thought were necessary to keep. I once decided to display a very beautiful Comme des Garçons piece in the store for a while so that more people could appreciate it. There was a misunderstanding and it was sold to a client. When I found out, I didn’t accept any excuses. I had the buyer called and asked to return it, explaining what had happened. These are the things that happen when you love something so deeply. I think, for example, of Martin Margiela’s iconic porcelain vest from Autumn/Winter 1989. For a long time I told myself that I would never get it. But I contacted someone who had worked at Maison Margiela Artisanal and they suggested a name. I had been searching for years without success and found nothing, and then I found two!
L’O: Carla, do you have any special exhibitions of your archives planned?
CS: I was just talking the other day with Olivier Saillard [director of the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation, and curator of the Azzedine Alaïa collection at the Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, Palais Galliera] about the possibility of organizing an exhibition there. It must have a narrative, each garment must be able to tell a story. I’m thinking of the pieces by Alexander McQueen, whom I met when he came to Italy to work with Romeo Gigli. For the moment it’s just an idea.