Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia: Tunisian-born famous fashion designer Azzedine Alaia was laid to rest in his native country. He was 77.
The French Haute Couture Federation had announced Alaia's death on Saturday, causing tributes to his influence on fashion pour from around the world on Twitter.
The deceased is described as a fashion iconoclast whose clingy styles helped define the 1980s and who dressed famous women from Hollywood to the White House.
The designer was sometimes dubbed the "king of cling" for the sculptural, form-fitting designs he first popularised during the 1980s and updated over the decades.
His clients included women as diverse as Michelle Obama, Grace Jones and Greta Garbo.
Supermodel Naomi Campbell, who enjoyed a close relationship with Alaia for many years and affectionately called him "papa," attended his funeral in the high-profile district of Sidi Bou Said.
She paid tribute to the designer whom she credited with “helping launch her career and taking care of her like a father when she met him in Paris at the age of 16”.
In July, Campbell made a rare catwalk appearance for the designer's Paris couture show — his first since 2011 — and said on Instagram at the time: "It's always an honour to walk for you 1986-2017."
Model Afef Jnifen, who is from Tunisia as well, also bid farewell to the secretive designer who Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi described as "the best ambassador of his country."
Lady Gaga, another of Alaia's clients, posted a lengthy message about the late designer on her Twitter account.
"I'll mourn forever the loss of my friend," she wrote alongside a photo of them. "He should be celebrated as one of the greatest fashion designers the world has ever known."
Fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham tweeted that it was a sad day and called Alaia a "true master and one of my biggest inspirations."
Ralph Toledano, head of the French Haute Couture Federation, told the AP that Alaia was "an exceptional friend and marvellous person."
"An architect for the body, a man for femininity, Azzedine Alaia is undeniably the inventor" of an important kind of style, Toledano said.
Singer Rihanna posted a photo showing a fond moment between her and the famed designer, saying "you will live on forever."
Indian actress Sonam Kapoor said she was "deeply saddened" by the news and thanked Alaia for "always empowering women and embracing diversity."
As a rare Tunisian with global recognition, Alaia's death prompted collective grief in his native Tunisia on Saturday, with tributes pouring in from the business and culture worlds as well as the government.
The Tunisian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Alaia was born in the medina, or old town, of the capital Tunis in 1942, and developed a passion for fashion thanks to his sister Hafidha. It said he had expressed a wish to be buried in Tunisia.
His house's website described him as "the little man in eternal Chinese pajamas" who "built a legend, that of a rebel designer who worked against the system and its trends."
Multiple museums have held retrospectives of Alaia's work, including the Guggenheim in New York and Paris' Palais Galliera, which put on a show in 2013 that highlighted his way of "slowing down time."
"A genius who weaved connections among fashion, architecture and fine arts, sculpting creations to magnify women's bodies. A free and generous man, loved and admired," former French Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay, who recently became director of UNESCO, said in tribute to the designer.
His star status was memorialised in the 1995 comedy "Clueless" when the lead character objects to a robber's demand to get on the ground, saying her red dress is "an Alaia ... it's like a totally important designer."
Azzedine Alaia was raised by his grandmother and earned a diploma at the Tunis Fine Arts Institute, according to his house's website. He arrived in Paris in the 1950s, where he rented a room in a countess' home in exchange for small jobs.
He learned to sew at Guy Laroche and worked briefly at Christian Dior, and started his own house in 1980. He worked with superstars as well as low-cost retailer Tati, well before H&M popularised that kind of high-low co-operation with well-known designers.
Alaia received offers to take over other fashion houses, but he routinely refused. He sought financial support in the 1990s and kept his company going. It had revenue of 60 million euros last year.
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