Azzedine Alaia, whose fashion creations has dazzled one and all, has died at the age of 77, France’s fashion federation said on Saturday. The French-Tunisian rose to fame in the 1980s, bucked the industry trend of fashion runway presentations with private showings of his collections, while eschewing publicity.

Alaia was born to a farming family in Tunisia in 1940 and studied sculpture at the capital’s fine arts school before working at a modest neighbourhood dressmaker’s shop.

He moved to Paris in the late 1950s, working briefly for Dior and Guy Laroche before eventually going solo, winning a reputation for sexy designs celebrating the female form.