ITALY: Prada To Buy Stake In Alaia

Prada has reached an agreement to buy a major stake in the fashion house of Tunisian-born fashion designer, Azzedine Alaia, it has been revealed. Prada said in a short statement that it has reached a partnership agreement with Alaia for "a program of common work". According to a source, Prada is to set up the Alaia Foundation in Paris "to gather and preserve the archive of all past and future work" of the designer. Alaia, who discovered supermodels Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford, studied sculpture at the Beaux Arts in Tunis before going to Paris in the 1950s. The designer, whose clients have included Greta Garbo and Cecile de Rothschild, is currently in New York for an exhibition of his work. The exhibition includes a gown he designed for Stephanie Seymour when she married Peter Brant and ones he made for Tina Turner and Grace Jones.