At the close of his Fall 2011 Haute Couture collection - his first runway show in 8 years -- notorious recluse and pint-sized sass factory, Azzedine Alaïa received a rapturous standing ovation. Missing out on the lovefest was Anna Wintour -- who was allegedly not invited -- and the rest of American Vogue -- whom she allegedly and strictly forebade to attend. Anna opted to attend the Harry Potter premiere with her niece, however the lack of Wintour clearly left no one feeling...cold.

Sophia Coppola, Kanye West and Donatella Versace -- who, it seems, invited herself -- were among those lucky and not-Anna-Wintour enough to reside front row during Alaïa's show. They got to see, up close and personal, the wool -- being couture it was no less than Mongolian lamb --  the knitwear --  a "miracle" according to Style.com's Tim Blanks --  the cinched waists and full skirts -- an ode to the designer's trademark body-consciousness -- and my favorite ladies wear staple -- the coat-dresses -- that made up the collection's 25 looks.

Whatever caused the riff between Azzedine and Anna -- there was a snub at the Met Gala a few years back causing longtime muse Naomi Campbell and her super friends to boycott, but methinks it goes back even further than that -- readers of Vogue are the ones truly suffering. They'll never see these gorgeous creations within those hallowed pages as long as one of them lives. And I think we all know, as per an agreement signed in blood eons ago, Anna's not going anywhere for the next few hundred years.

But feel free to peruse some of the best looks from Alaïa Fall 2011 couture and take comfort in imagining what magic Grace Coddington could conjure up if she were given the chance.

Photos: Style.com