Legendary items: the fashion heritage of Yves Saint-Laurent. Yves Saint Laurent Yves Saint Laurent
“Never confuse elegance with snobbery,” said the great fashion master Yves Saint Laurent. He gave the world a new woman, free from prejudice, independent and sexy, who knows exactly what she wants, stylish and self-confident. And also longing for love. He will often talk about love, about how she paints a woman, how a woman must love ... Women inspired him. Women were his muses.
“Over the years, I realized that the main thing in a dress is the woman who puts it on,” is another famous saying of Saint Laurent. And when they tell me that fashion depersonalizes women, I recall another genius quote: “Clothes should be subordinated to the personality of a woman, and not vice versa.” Only a woman can depersonalize herself. And, unfortunately, not everyone understands this simple truth. As for the fashion heritage of Yves Saint Laurent, it is so great and significant that it can be discovered again and again, and each time new details of the great master's style, new facets of his talent will appear.
Women's tuxedo
If Coco Chanel stuck her curious nose into the men's wardrobe to draw a lot of ideas from there, nevertheless offering women more laconic dresses and skirts of elegant length, then Yves Saint Laurent gave the woman the freedom and power with which he associated a man's suit . Since he aestheticized the tuxedo for the female body in 1966, this item of women's wardrobe has rightfully become a fashion classic. Perhaps only a lazy designer does not offer his variations on the theme of a tuxedo from season to season. What can we say about other men's suits, forever included in the women's wardrobe and adapted for all occasions.
If in the days of Yves Saint Laurent’s youth, his famous fashion models were not allowed into a restaurant in a trouser suit, considering such an appearance a challenge and a deviation from the norm, today a well-fitting tuxedo is often an unspoken pass to events of various kinds and dress code. A less famous, but no less stylish gift for women from the master is a tuxedo dress. Perfectly suited to any life situation, it can also be used as a light coat.
Sheer blouse
“I found my style thanks to a woman. It is from there that all the strength and vitality of my style comes - I draw them from the body of a woman, ”said the great couturier. In the 60s, it was the female body in the collections of the young designer Saint Laurent that caused a real scandal. Yves offered women a completely transparent blouse, which should be worn without underwear. Of course, this invention plunged the “decent ladies” into a deep shock. But the atmosphere of rebellion that reigned then in the minds undoubtedly played into the hands of a sensitive couturier, instantly making a transparent blouse a cult item. The most daring fans of the brand immediately took the advice of Saint Laurent and began to combine this item with a tuxedo that was no less revolutionary at that time.
It is curious that now few fashion designers deny themselves the pleasure of making at least one transparent thing in each of their collections.
Pea coat
Thanks to genius, the short double-breasted coat has evolved from the uniform of military sailors to the must-have of the modern men's wardrobe. Saint Laurent himself wore a pea jacket and easily shared it with women. A stylish coat never goes out of fashion, but in the current autumn-winter season, a pea coat is an acutely relevant and desirable thing for the most fashionable and stylish women.
Safari
Africa has been a source of inspiration for Saint Laurent on more than one occasion. Hailing from Algeria, in the northern part of the country, he has made high-end leisurewear classics in a stylish summer wardrobe. The legendary safari jacket, jackets, shirts, overalls and dresses of sand color and all shades of khaki is another striking feature of the style of the great fashion master. This includes the famous leopard print. The fashion king made it a symbol of luxury and elegance. And also the turban, a characteristic headdress for North Africa, in the hands of Saint Laurent began to sound secularly elegant.
Dress "Mondrian"
The 1965 collection based on the paintings of the Dutch abstract artist Piet Mondrian has forever entered the golden fund of fashion history. Six A-line dresses (the same silhouette that Yves brought into fashion while he was still the successor to Christian Dior) became a symbol of a new era. And the dresses themselves are still kept in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design). By the way, the famous Mondrian pattern is not a print, but pieces of multi-colored fabric sewn together. Matisse, Manet, Velazquez - the fashion designer often looks for inspiration in art and creates it himself.
Color
A lot has already been said about color, however, speaking of the fashion heritage of Yves Saint Laurent, it is impossible not to note it as a separate item. The king of fashion loved black: "To be beautiful, a woman only needs to have a black sweater, a black skirt and walk arm in arm with the man she loves." It's hard to disagree with this: a woman in love will be good even in a bag of potatoes. And Saint Laurent noted this more than once.
For everyone else, he suggested color. Lots of color. In addition to popularizing the khaki color, he brought into fashion bright colors, the most unexpected at first glance combinations and color blocks. Red with pink, purple with purple and blue, fuchsia with black. Color from Yves Saint Laurent is always more than fashion. This is a work of art.
Russian theme and ethnicity
Saint Laurent is not the only artist who expressed his admiration for the Russian style and used folklore motifs in his collections. However, he did it in a memorable way. The master was the first to offer the viewer a fashion show as a performance, as a sacrament, as an initiation into the world of color, the richness of Russian textures, into the world of haute couture. This is exactly what the Russian Ballet and Opera collection of 1976 became. Yves Saint-Coran was a passionate admirer of the theater, worked hard for it, creating costumes for the legendary ballets and operas. He himself did not consider the Russian collection to be the best, but he called it the most beautiful. The Russian theme from the master gave the fashion world bright pure colors, such as red, green, rich purple, as well as puffy floor-length skirts, suede vests trimmed with fur, fur in general, including colored fur. He gracefully painted the men's blazer in green, combining it with red and gold buttons. Yves stylized the Japanese kimono and Indian sari from national clothes into European chic, the style of a modern woman, free from snobbery and prejudice.
The beginnings of street fashion and sporty chic
It's hard to imagine, but it's true: at the age of 21, the shy young man Yves Saint Laurent in an instant turned from Christian Dior's assistants into the artistic director of the legendary Dior fashion house. It was way back in 1957. Already in the first collection, he will show all the best of the traditions of the house, adding his own unique look. He will be the first fashion designer to visit Moscow in 1959 with a collection of outerwear. However, the most revolutionary will be the 1960 Beatnik collection. Then she turned out to be misunderstood by critics, their consciousness at that moment was not ready to accept elements of street style on the high fashion catwalk. Sable coats with knitted sleeves, over the knee boots, caps, biker jackets made of crocodile skin have become shock therapy for Christian Dior's patriarchal clients. Beatniks or "broken generation" - one of the most fashionable and dangerous phenomena of that time.
The movie "The Savage" with Marlon Brando, which thundered with great success, introduced a new aesthetic and new heroes of its time into fashion. Brutal guys in leather jackets and biker jackets, rough boots and turn-up jeans that look exactly like hipster boyfriend jeans just a few seasons ago. However, the women in the cult film are still far from Yves Saint Laurent's woman. Cleaned hair, styled with soft curls, the delicate silhouette of the new look is still relevant, but it is already becoming an image of a woman of the past. Since the woman of the future, the woman of Yves Saint Laurent - dynamic, free, independent and at the same time luxurious, clearly declared herself in haute couture art.
Elena Mareeva, TV producer, fashion and style expert, www.mareevastyle.com
Founder of the Elena Mareeva School of Style, successful blogger, stylist, expert in personal style, self-presentation, the ability to manage impressions, secular and business communication, men's suits, fashion trends. 15 years of work on TV. For the last 8 years she devoted herself to the talk show "Fashionable Sentence". As a creative producer of the project, she was responsible for the program, its quality, concept, ratings, innovations, image and transformation of the characters.
It seemed that he was destined to become what he became. At 13, he was already making patterns for dresses for his mother and sisters, and they gave them to local dressmakers for tailoring. At 17, he submitted his sketches to a competition for young designers organized by the International Wool Secretariat and won first place.
At an awards ceremony held in Paris, he met Michel de Brunoff, then editor-in-chief of French Vogue, who played a key role in his career. Seeing talent in a shy blue-eyed young man, he advises him to move to Paris and take up fashion.
In September 1954, following the advice of de Brunoff, Saint Laurent moved to Paris and entered the courses of the Haute Couture Syndicate. In November of the same year, he again won first place in the competition of the International Wool Secretariat with the design of a cocktail dress, beating another rising fashion star, Karl Lagerfeld.
In 1955, during one of his meetings with de Brunoff, Saint Laurent showed him his sketches. And he, struck by the similarity of models with the design of the new collection of Christian Dior, which he saw this morning in the office of the legendary couturier, decides to introduce him to the work of the young artist.
I have never met anyone more talented in my life, de Brunoff would later write.
Dior, seeing the work of Saint Laurent, instantly recognizes a like-minded person in him and immediately hires him as an assistant. It won't be long before Dior names Saint Laurent as his right hand and later as his heir.
It was a pleasure for me to work with Christian Dior, whom I admired endlessly. At that time he was the most famous couturier.<…>He taught me the basics of my trade. I owe him most of my success. No matter what happened to me afterwards, I will never forget the years I spent with him, Saint Laurent later recalled.
The Little Prince of French Fashion
In August 1957, Christian Dior told Saint Laurent's mother that he had chosen her son as heir to his fashion empire. The woman was somewhat surprised, because the master was then only 52 years old.
A month later, Dior died of a heart attack while relaxing in the Italian resort of Montecatini. According to his last wish, Saint Laurent was appointed Artistic Director of Christian Dior.
So at the age of 21, Yves Saint Laurent became the head of one of the most influential fashion houses in the world: his products accounted for 50% of the exported goods of the haute couture segment, and his staff consisted of 1,400 employees.
Yves did not disappoint his mentor. The very first collection, created by him as the head of the Christian Dior house in January 1958, made a splash. The trapeze dresses he proposed laid the foundation for his subsequent revolutionary breakthroughs. The media immediately dubbed him the "little prince" who saved France.
Between 1958 and 1960 he created six collections for Dior.
Exile from Dior
In the 60th, clouds gathered over the "little prince". The instant fame and recognition of the young genius haunted the envious and competitors at Dior. Saint Laurent, to whom Dior left the fashion house, is “unexpectedly” drafted into the army and sent to Algeria, which is at war with France for its independence.
The whole essence of the designer, whose childhood was spent in the Algerian Oran, opposes the military conflict. It took him 20 days of humiliation from colleagues to fall into a severe depression. The young man is placed in a military clinic, where he is treated with psychotropic substances and electric shock for three months. In addition, he receives a notice that he is fired from Dior.
Saint Laurent struggled with the consequences of such "shock therapy", which manifested itself in the form of drug and alcohol addiction and depression that developed against this background, for most of his life.
Pierre Bejart, who appeared by that time in his life, saved Saint Laurent from the Algerian "captivity" and helped him open his own fashion house, which was doomed to success.
"Living Genius"
In the 60s and 70s, Saint Laurent becomes the king of radical chic. His revolutionary findings. The first breakthrough was the Mondrian collection, inspired by the work of the Dutch abstract artist Peter Mondrian.
In 1966, he created the women's tuxedo, which became a revolution in the fashion world and served as the basis for the further emigration of typically masculine pieces into the women's wardrobe.
... It was necessary to take into account the specifics of the time. Women were increasingly involved in activities that required greater freedom of movement ... Saint Laurent recalled.
He was the first designer to prove that a woman in trousers is beautiful, creating models that emphasize the female figure. The first to take the risk of turning a parka and a pea jacket into fashionable outerwear. The first to open a line of ready-to-wear boutiques ("Rive Gauche").
He was always first and one step ahead, and this step was measured in several decades. Long before Gautier used African ethnic motifs in his collections, he was ahead of Lacroix and Gogliano, releasing a collection inspired by the traditional costumes of various peoples.
My humble role as a couturier is to create clothes that reflect the time, said Saint Laurent and every time proved that he succeeds in this better than others.
In 1983, at the age of 47, he became the first designer in the world to have a lifetime exhibition at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The recognition of his services to the fashion industry has made him a style icon.
Whatever he does, women all over the world, of all ages, will follow him, said exhibition curator Diana Vreeland, who called Saint Laurent nothing less than a "living genius" from fashion.
The fate of the king
Well, they "crowned" me. But look what happened to the other kings of France, Saint Laurent declared in 1968 - long before critics began to bury his talent as an innovator.
This happened in the 80s, which were marked by the reclusion of Saint Laurent: he rarely appears in public, except that twice a year he goes to the traditional bow at the end of the shows. There were rumors about his alcohol and drug addiction. At some point, Pierre Berger was forced to publicly declare that Saint Laurent did not have AIDS.
In an interview, Saint Laurent admitted that he once felt so bad that he "wanted to tie the heaviest of his bronze sculptures around his neck" and throw himself into the Seine.
Wealth and fame did not save from addiction and depression.
Fashion critics were quick to say that the days of Saint Laurent are over and the king "has not created anything new for a long time." But the show in 1992, which presented the best creations of the fashion house for 30 years of its existence, proved the opposite.
Yves Saint Laurent, born August 1, 1936 in Algeria, was supposed to practice law, but thanks to the support of his mother, in 1954 he left for Paris, to school under the High Fashion Syndicate.
Almost immediately after entering, he presented a cocktail dress at one of the competitions for budding designers. Yves Saint Laurent shared his first victory with Karl Lagerfeld - it was they who got the prize.
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Saint Laurent's talent was noticed, and a year later he became an assistant to Christian Dior and at the same time a tailor's apprentice in the house of Christian Dior.
This was followed by a rapid career - Yves Saint Laurent, who took the place of art director of the House after the death of Christian Dior, presented his first collection, for which he received the prestigious Neiman Marcus Oscar. It was in this collection that one could first see trapeze dresses - one of the first innovations of Yves Saint Laurent.
The next morning after the newspaper was shown, the headlines were full of: "Yves Saint Laurent saved France, the Dior tradition will continue!"
In 1960, Yves Saint Laurent was drafted into the army. But the hardships of military service turned into a psychiatric department of a military hospital, where he underwent treatment with shock therapy and tranquilizers.
Yves could not speak and weighed only 40 kg when Pierre Berger appeared in his life. He became for Saint Laurent not only a lover, but also a true friend and assistant in business. It was he who ensured that his ward was released from the army, and helped the young designer to found his own fashion house, Yves Saint Laurent, in January 1962.
Four years later, the designer introduced the world to Le Smoking, a women's version of the tailcoat suit. The tuxedo not only instantly won the hearts of women, but also completely turned the fashion of that time.
Yves Saint Laurent began to actively introduce a trouser suit into the lives of women. In the same year, the designer opened his first Rive Gauche boutique, named after the left bank of the Seine, which was then considered an anarchist haven, making another revolution - the store sold casual clothes that were in no way inferior to evening clothes.
Thus, Yves Saint Laurent democratized haute couture.
At the same time, androgynous models appeared on the shows and photo shoots of Saint Laurent - such as we see on the catwalks now.
Thin girls with slicked back hair demonstrated feminine strength and capabilities. Supported the trend Karl Lagerfeld, and Helmut Newton sang them in his numerous photographs, which later also turned into classics.
By 1970, Saint Laurent was also credited with inventing the pea coat (1962), sheer blouses (1966) and overalls (1968).
The designer liked to use transparent materials, for which he was repeatedly attacked. The invention of the pea jacket has become a kind of symbol of the House of Yves Saint Laurent, reflecting the master's ability to mix high fashion, art and everyday things, turning them into a legend.
Saint Laurent's list of countless inventions includes the safari-inspired jacket, which has become a sensation. His African (1967) and Russian (1976) collections are still considered one of the most important in the history of fashion and one of the best in the designer's work.
It was Yves Saint Laurent who introduced the fashion for stunning evening dresses, experimenting with them, but never forgetting about femininity and grace. YSl wedding dresses deserve special attention.
In January 2002, Yves Saint Laurent retired due to numerous health problems. A few months earlier, he broke both of his hands during a trip to Palermo and lost the main pleasure of his life - the ability to paint.
Subsequently, the designer's health deteriorated, he practically stopped attending social events.
In the last moments on Sunday morning with him were his friends - Pierre Berger, muse Betty Catroux (Betty Catroux) and Philippe Munier (Philippe Mougnier), who took care of the health of Saint Laurent lately. Catherine Deneuve arrived minutes after his death on June 1, 2008.
In memory of the great couturier, as part of the Sundance Film Festival, which takes place annually in the winter at the famous American ski resort of Aspen, in 2009 two films were shown at once - the work of French cinematographer David Teboul (David Teboul) called Yves Saint Laurent: His Life and Times and picture Yves Saint Laurent: 5 Avenue Marceau 75116 Paris.
Both films are dedicated to the life and work of the legendary designer.
Couturier Yves Henri Don Mathieu Saint Laurent, known to us as Yves Saint Laurent, is called the revolutionary of the fashion industry, the little prince of haute couture and the eternal classic. noted that Saint Laurent was the first among his colleagues to raise fashion to the level of art.
A friend and colleague of the couturier, Pierre Berger, drew a line under the creative biography of Yves Saint Laurent, noting that the fashion of the first half of the 20th century was influenced by Saint Laurent, and the second half by Saint Laurent. He gave humanity a unisex style, dressing women in tuxedos, high boots, sheer blouses and trapeze dresses. And he was the first to invite fashion models with dark skin to the podium.
Childhood and youth
The future "architect" of fashionable clothes was born in Oran, Algeria, in the summer of 1936. The father of the star worked as an insurance agent, and his mother became the first muse for Yves, who inspired the creation of sketches of dresses. Her son and two daughters were waiting for her evening appearance like a theatrical performance. Yves Saint Laurent began to draw sketches of clothes at the age of 8, and at 11 he became interested in theatrical stage. So much so that he soon built the scenery of the house, dressing the dolls in outfits glued together from painted patches.
There was no fear of the elders in the house, Yves’ “performances” were watched with pleasure by my mother, sisters and cousins. An indelible impression on the young couturier was made by the performance of the great Louis Jouvet "School of Wives", the scenery and costumes for which were created by the French artist Christian Berard.
Later, Saint Laurent admitted that when he saw the clothes of theatrical actors from Berard, he realized that the main thing in a suit is the soul, and in a dress - a woman. In Algiers, Yves Saint Laurent graduated from college and lyceum, focusing on his favorite subjects - French and Latin. He called Andre Gide the writers who influenced the worldview and adored Matisse from the artists.
Design and fashion
At the age of 17, the young man arrived in the "capital of fashion" and enrolled in haute couture drawing courses. The first success came in the same year: a black cocktail dress designed by Yves Saint Laurent won first place in the competition. After 2 years, in 1955, a 19-year-old boy was taken as an assistant to the staff at home. In 1957, the head of the fashion house died. For two years of working together, Dior saw talent in the young assistant, so the brand's owners relied on Yves Saint Laurent, entrusting the 21-year-old couturier with the position of art director.
At the beginning of 1958, the designer presented to the fans of the fashion house his debut collection, for which Yves Saint Laurent was inspired by Russian sundresses. No one expected such a sensation: Yves was expected to continue the Dior line - lush, fitted silhouettes. And the newcomer presented a completely new bow - A-silhouette. Short trapezoidal dresses, made of flowing fabrics and silk, "liberated" the female body and did not make the usual emphasis on the waist. The day after the presentation, the tabloids of Paris wrote that Yves Saint Laurent "saved France" with his sundresses.
In the summer of 1959, the designer went to Moscow in the company of twelve fashion models, becoming a pioneer of the French fashion industry in the Soviet Union. The following year, the young master was called up for military service and sent to Africa. Yves Saint Laurent could not stand the test of military drill: 20 days later he was demobilized after a nervous breakdown and hospitalized. The young man was treated with electric shock and "hard" medications, after which he lost weight up to 35 kilograms.
Yves Saint Laurent and models in clothes from the Beatnik collection Returning to the fashion house, Yves Saint Laurent came up with a new spring-summer collection "The Beatnik", which he presented in 1960. Cropped crocodile motorcycle jackets and knitted-sleeve mink coats frightened conservative investors at home: the collection seemed too avant-garde and luxurious. Saint Laurent was fired, replacing the extreme couturier with the predictable Mark Boan. A friend of Pierre Berger supported the dismissed designer. He helped to cope with the blow and emerge victorious: Yves Saint Laurent won monetary compensation in court for illegal termination of the contract.
YSL fashion house
Having found a new investor - American entrepreneur Mark Robinson - Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé established their own fashion house with the YSL logo. Before the presentation of the collection at the end of January 1962, the Parisians whispered about the impending failure, believing that the fashion designer did not have the money to implement his plan. But the ill-wishers were put to shame: the new line of clothing with silhouettes that corresponded to the spirit of the time was also applauded by Baroness de Rothschild.
Yves Saint Laurent logo In 1965, Yves Saint Laurent presented the world with the revolutionary Mondrian collection, announcing that he was tired of sheathing the wives of millionaires. A-line dresses with geometric patterns by the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian surprised the fashion world. In the collection, the designer used the works of modernists and Serge Polyakov. The pattern of collectible dresses is not a print, but sewn colored pieces of fabric. The concept was picked up by Saint Laurent's colleagues, making their own interpretations, but Yves Saint Laurent stood at the origins of the idea.
Collection of Yves Saint Laurent "Mondrian" In 1966, YSL celebrated the opening of the first ready-to-wear boutique, whose name featured Rive Gauche (the left bank of the Seine, where freethinkers, students and revolutionaries settled). The name was dictated by the revolutionary changes that Yves Saint Laurent introduced to the fashion industry: the couturier dressed women in men's suits that looked sexy and elegant.
A year later, the Tuxedo collection was shown, with which Yves Saint Laurent “finished off” the remnants of patriarchal fashion. Men's items appeared in the women's wardrobe - tuxedos, trouser suits, safari-style jackets, overalls and pea jackets. But these models, borrowing "masculine" silhouettes, did not deprive women of sexuality.
Marlene Dietrich demonstrates the collection of Yves Saint Laurent "Tuxedo" The Liberation collection of 1971 became the most provocative, drawing a flurry of criticism on the author's head. The master's costume line was inspired by Paloma Picasso. A woman with a delicate taste and not afraid of experiments bought a suit from the 40s at a flea market that struck Yves Saint Laurent. Women dressed in clothing reminiscent of the Second World War came out on the defile.
Another muse that inspired Saint Laurent for the Liberation collection was a well-known provocateur and violator of the foundations. Older fashionistas were indignant: they remembered the years of Nazi occupation. Black tights, platform shoes and bright makeup inspired fashion critics with analogies with women of easy virtue from the Bois de Boulogne. But the flurry of criticism was suddenly replaced by a boom in women's "men's" suits from YSL: Yves Saint Laurent again foresaw the trends, being two steps ahead.
Fashion editor Diana Vreeland said that the couturier "has a special magic pipe for women," and no matter what the maestro does, fashionistas of all ages will follow him. In 1976, Yves Saint Laurent presented the collection "Russian Ballets and Operas" to thirsty fashionistas, inspired by Russian theatre, ballet and national motifs. Beauties in colorful "peasant" dresses with embroidery and gold embroidery defiled on the catwalk.
Dresses "Yves Saint Laurent" The year 1990 was marked by a tribute collection, which the master, anticipating his imminent departure, dedicated to his beloved people - actors, dancers, artists. Yves Saint Laurent said goodbye to fans and the fashion world in January 2002. The latest collection was shown at the Center Georges Pompidou. Farewell to the maestro, who has pleased and dictated fashion for 40 years, has become a national event.
Cosmetics and perfumes are another chapter of Saint Laurent's vibrant work. In 1971, the star of the global fashion industry presented the men's fragrance Opium. The advertisement turned out to be as provocative as the fragrance itself: for the presentation of the perfume, Yves Saint Laurent was naked. Later, Opium toilet and perfumed water was advertised by Rupert Everett and naked Sophie Dahl, who followed the example of the couturier.
Personal life
Pierre Berger was a friend, colleague and lover of Yves Saint Laurent. In the mid-1970s, the romance ended, but the friendship and business partnership remained. Shortly before the death of the master, the couple entered into a civil marriage.
Yves Saint Laurent was in love with Karl Lagerfeld's partner Jacques de Bascher. The young man came from an educated family, distinguished by his attractive appearance and love for secular parties. Jacques was in a relationship with Lagerfeld for about 12 years, but then went to Saint Laurent. 6 years later, Jacques de Bascher dies due to AIDS.
The unconventional orientation of Yves Saint Laurent did not become an obstacle to the love of women: borrowing men's suits and frock coats, unisex style was not a desire to turn a woman into a man. Pants and leather jackets from Saint Laurent "breathe" with sexuality, jackets and "safari" suits are surprisingly feminine and emphasize forms.
The women of Yves Saint Laurent are called Paloma Picasso, fashion models Veruschka (Vera von Lendorf) and Lulu de la Falaise.
Death
The maestro spent the last six years of his life in an ultramarine mansion in Marrakech. Yves Saint Laurent retired in the late 1980s due to health problems: the couturier abused alcohol and drugs, and was repeatedly treated. In 1992, Berger announced the departure of Yves Saint Laurent and the "end of high fashion", but the final retirement happened 10 years later. Financial problems rained down on the YSL house. The couturier died on a Sunday evening in the early summer of 2008 in Paris, which had seen him rise and fall. The cause of Yves Saint Laurent's death was a brain tumor.
Farewell to the trendsetter of world fashion took place in the Saint-Roch church in Paris. The ashes of Yves Saint Laurent were scattered over his favorite garden at the Majorelle Villa in Marrakech, where he liked to sit in the evenings in the company of a bulldog named Muzhik III (the same nicknames received the previous two dogs). Two films were shot about the work of the “eternal classic of fashion”: “Yves Saint Laurent” by Jalil Lesper and “Saint Laurent. Style is me.” Bertrand Bonello. Both films were released in 2014.
State of the house today
In 1999, the house of Yves Saint Laurent acquired the Italian fashion house Gucci, entrusted to develop collections. The couturier worked on the creation of a new line until 2004, after his departure, the baton passed to Stefano Pilati. From 2011 to 2013, the Belgian Paul Deneuve became the Executive Director of the fashion house Yves Saint Laurent Paris. During his leadership in the winter of 2012, Hedi Slimane was appointed creative director. In the summer of that year, Slimane renamed the line Saint Laurent Paris.
Perfume "Yves Saint Laurent" In 2012, YSL perfumers created Manifesto, a perfume for a bold and liberated woman. Connoisseurs called the perfume a "manifesto of femininity": they "open" with notes of greenery, in their "heart" there is a floral symphony, which ends with woody "chords".
Bags "Yves Saint Laurent" In 2016, Slimane was replaced by designer Anthony Vaccarello. In 2017, Vaccarello merged the shows of the women's and men's collections for the autumn-winter season. In the new collection, the designer introduced provocative short skirts, vinyl trousers, corsets and high-top boots once borrowed by Yves Saint Laurent. At Vaccarello, the shaft turned into an "accordion". New items of the fashion house can be purchased on the official website. Prices for models of clothes, bags and shoes range from "sky-high" to affordable.
Quotes
- "Over the years, I've learned that the most important thing about a dress is the woman who wears it."
- “In this life, I regret only one thing - that I didn’t invent jeans.”
- "Clothing should be subordinated to the personality of a woman, and not vice versa."
- “Love is the best cosmetic. But cosmetics are easier to buy.”
- "My dresses are designed for women who can afford to travel with forty suitcases."
- “One fine day it was announced on the radio that I had died. Crowds of journalists rushed towards me. I had to say that it was all a lie: here I am, alive and almost healthy. But for some reason they absolutely did not want to believe me, although they saw me with their own eyes.
- “The best clothes for a woman are the arms of a man who loves her. But for those who are deprived of such happiness, there is me.
- "Fashion passes, style is eternal."
