Pieter Mulier's Final Alaïa Show Was a Love Letter to the House's Fundamentals

One of the most emotionally charged moments of Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2026 came from Alaïa, where Pieter Mulier staged his final show for the house before departing for Versace.

Rather than a grand reinvention, Mulier chose to return to the fundamentals of the Alaïa silhouette for his swan song, revisiting the hourglass shapes and body-conscious dressmaking that have defined the house since its founding. The show carried genuine industry weight: Raf Simons, a friend and longtime peer of Mulier's, was seated in the audience next to Chanel's Matthieu Blazy and reportedly stood on his seat as Mulier took his final bow, a spontaneous gesture of respect that quickly circulated across social media and fashion forums.

WWD buyers surveyed after the season named the Alaïa show as the one that "best met the moment," praising its poignant conclusion for remaining deeply faithful to the house's original spirit rather than using a farewell show as an opportunity for a dramatic departure. For a season largely defined by designers settling into second and third collections at new houses, Mulier's exit at Alaïa stood out as a rare moment of genuine finality — and a reminder of how tightly relationships in the fashion industry remain woven together, even across competing houses.