![]() ![]() The luxury boutique offered lower-priced but exquisitely made ready-to-wear collections of basic clothing. In 1966, YSL opened Saint Laurent Rive Gauche. His designs reflected the desires of the increasingly assertive woman of the 1960s. Always finding the right note between functionality and elegance, he brought street fashion on the runway. A Maverick in the fashion worldĮarly on in his career, Yves Saint Laurent introduced refined and theatrical aesthetics to the traditional post-war Parisian haute couture scene. ![]() Unafraid to reach beyond Haute Couture, he championed “style,” which is eternal and inherent, and set a template for style that is still followed today. YSL was often inspired by art and exotic places. The power couple brought together creative genius and business acumen, becoming a force to be reckoned with. Saint Laurent’s lifelong relationship with Pierre Bergé raised the haute couture designer to the status of icon. In 1962, Yves Saint Laurent opened his own fashion house in partnership with his Pygmalion, Pierre Bergé. He was only 21 years old.įrom then on, his career was a resounding success. In a twist of fate, Yves Saint Laurent took over as head designer following Dior’s sudden death in 1957. Three years later, he was introduced to Christian Dior who hired him on the spot after seeing his sketches. In 1954, the 17-year-old prodigy left Oran, his hometown in Algeria, for Paris. A genius with a remarkable breadth of vision, destined to revolutionize women’s clothes: Yves Saint Laurent. He dared to make powerful chromatic combinations: pink and red, orange and red, blue and green, black and navy blue, which was previously considered poor taste.YSL: Three letters representing a phenomenon in French haute couture and a profound influence in fashion since the 1960s. YSL found the brightness of these colors and the strength of color oppositions. Örmen explains that the brightly flowering bougainvillées tree grows “in Algeria and in Morocco, where YSL ‘discovered’ colors. YSL produced his Bougainvillées cloaks for his Spring/Summer 1989 haute couture collection. It’s a kind of provocation, and even the perfume itself - very heady - is miles away from other perfumes.” The inspiration comes from China, and so does the collection of Autumn/Winter 1977. You have in the book a little selection of his sketches. “YSL himself designed the bottle and the packaging of Opium. “They had the same understanding of women’s condition and the same commitment to liberation.” Deneuve and YSL “were very close friends,” Örmen says. In this picture, socialite Nan Kempner and actress Catherine Deneuve applaud Saint Laurent at the end of the Autumn/Winter 1974 haute couture show. By wearing a YSL tuxedo with pants, you had the guarantee of elegance and propriety.” The tuxedo replaced evening dresses and ball gowns. ![]() “He introduced pants at the highest level of the dress code. “In France, in the mid-’60s, women didn’t dare wear pants in the cities to go to work or to go out at night,” Örmen says. Brunhoff was the one who introduced the young YSL to Christian Dior.” He encouraged him and later opened doors for him. As Örmen explains, “Michel de Brunhoff knew that the young man was gifted, extremely talented. One is from 17-year-old Saint Laurent to Michel de Brunhoff, the editor-in-chief of French Vogue. This orange envelope contains reproductions of two historic letters. He was living in Algeria, far away from Paris, but he already knew everything about Parisian couture.” He even thought about real-life providers for the textiles, embroidery, jewels and hats. He designed fashionable paper dresses that could actually have been sewn because they are so realistically rendered. “Yves Saint Laurent was very young when he cut these dolls from fashion magazines. Herewith, Örmen provides a tantalizing peek at some of the treasures inside. Originally published in French, the book has been translated into English by Andrea Reece. ![]() But it also has removable facsimiles of letters, sketches, paper dolls and contact sheets, giving unusual insight into the mind of the creator. As one would expect, the book contains a wealth of images. In 1966, he became one of the first couturiers to launch a ready-to-wear line.Īll About Yves (Laurence King Publishing), written by Paris-based fashion historian Catherine Örmen, is not just another monograph. His Le smoking, a tuxedo crafted for women, aided in the abolition of dress codes that barred women from wearing pants in public. His name is a equated with both elegance and innovation. In 1961, at the age of 25, he launched his own couture house. At 21, he was appointed head designer at Christian Dior. Yves Saint Laurent was arguably the most famous and celebrated mid-century fashion designer in the world. Yves Saint-Laurent, France, 1964, by Marc Riboud ![]()
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