Tunisian-born fashion designer Azzedine Alaia died in Paris at the age of 77, announced the French Federation of Haute Couture and Fashion on Saturday. The late designer dressed many stars and political figures from Greta Garbo to Grace Jones and Lady Gaga, Michele Obama, Marion Cotillard and Madonna. The designer was a star of the Paris fashion world in the 1980s and 1990s, when models Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell strode down the catwalks in his trademark figure-hugging designs. Born into a farming family in Tunis in 1940, Alaia started out in French fashion houses Christian Dior, Guy Laroche and Thierry Mugler, but after setting up his own firm he rarely took part in the Paris Fashion Weeks. UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay, a former French culture minister, said: “Alaia was a genius weaving links between fashion, architecture and sculpture, creating dresses to highlight women’s bodies.”