Azzedine Alaïa has no fear. We’ve seen his fearlessness play out in the diminutive designer’s occasional pot shots at the industry’s most sacred cows, his extreme aversion to the fashion system, and his daring experimentation in body-con dressing. For these and many other reasons, the 71-year-old is safely ensconced in the rarefied stratum of great couturiers. And now a new exhibition at the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands explores the master’s work from the last ten years, the era of his renaissance.

Azzedine Alaïa in the 21st Century is the second exhibition in which the museum has investigated the oeuvre of the Tunisia native. This new semi-retrospective looks at the most iconic pieces since the turn of the century, including a fluffy pink lamb fur coat, a jacket adorned with an entire crocodile hide, and his stock-in-trade, sexy bandage dresses. Needless to say, the show is filled with exotic materials and exacting attention to the female form.

The exhibition launches December 11, 2011, with a celebration featuring the designer himself, after which it goes on view to the public until May 6, 2012. So go ahead, take the plunge. Not even a round-trip ticket would set you back as much as one of Alaïa’s form-fitting dresses.

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