From the Palace to the Auction Block: Farida Khelfa Opens Her Legendary Fashion Archives

PARIS — Farida Khelfa, the French-Algerian model who helped define Parisian style across multiple decades as a muse to Jean Paul Gaultier and Azzedine Alaïa, is opening the doors to her private fashion archive. In an unprecedented move for a living fashion icon, Khelfa is auctioning nearly 200 pieces from her personal wardrobe—garments that were not just worn by her but, in many cases, created for her.

Hosted online by Maurice Auction through December 11, the sale functions less like a wardrobe purge and more like a curated museum exhibit. But unlike conventional couture auctions filled with pristine, never-worn garments, this collection carries a distinctly human imprint. These are pieces that lived alongside Khelfa in the hedonistic heights of the 1980s and the sharp-edged glamour of the 1990s. They are part of her story—and by extension, part of fashion’s.

A Living Retrospective of French Couture

Among the standout pieces is a dramatic raffia ball skirt and bolero from Azzedine Alaïa’s Spring 1996 collection. Other highlights include a hand-beaded halter top from Gaultier’s 2012 “Amy Winehouse” tribute—one Khelfa personally helped embroider.

The archive traces her evolution from a teenager escaping a strict upbringing in the Lyon suburbs to the pulsating epicenter of 1980s Paris nightlife, Le Palace—the city’s answer to Studio 54—where she was first spotted by Christian Louboutin.

Her path eventually led her off the runway and into the inner sanctums of fashion’s most influential houses. She became a studio director for Alaïa and later couture director for Gaultier, shaping collections from behind the scenes as much as she once did on the catwalk.

Style Without Compromise

“Farida loves fashion, is fashion, and was never a fashion victim,” Louboutin said of his longtime friend. That mantra is evident in the auction catalog. Rather than trend-chasing, the collection leans heavily into:

• razor-sharp tailoring
• sculptural silhouettes
• Azzedine Alaïa’s architectural mastery
• Gaultier’s irreverent couture
• monochrome palettes, especially her signature black

It also features pieces from Schiaparelli, where Khelfa served as a brand ambassador, further cementing her influence on the modern resurgence of the house.

A Sale With a Deeper Purpose

Khelfa has pledged half the proceeds to the RIACE Fund, a charity focused on supporting the integration of migrants. The gesture speaks to her own roots as the daughter of Algerian immigrants who ascended from the margins of French society to become a symbol of its most celebrated creative expression.

Her decision to part with these pieces is, in some sense, an act of liberation: a passing of the torch from one era of fashion to another, and from one woman’s story to collectors around the world.