The history of Yves Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent's story
Yves Saint Laurent is one of the most important designers of our time. The fashion house can look back on a long history. Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint Laurent was born on August 1, 1936 in Oran, Algeria. He grew up there with two younger sisters. At the age of 11, he discovered his passion for costumes at a theater performance. His mother, who subscribed to French fashion magazines, introduced him to the world of fashion. During his childhood, Yves was often there when his mother discussed her new clothes with the tailor.
On a trip to Paris, Yves Saint Laurent met Michel de Brunhoff, the then head designer of Vogue. Brunhoff recommended that he study fashion design. The young Yves then moved to Paris at the age of just 17, where he began studying at the Chambre Syndicale de la haute couture , laying the foundation for a breathtaking story. After his studies, he again took part in the international wool secretariat competition, in which he had already taken part unsuccessfully. This time, however, with complete success. He took first place with his design of an evening dress, ahead of Karl Lagerfeld . This was already the beginning of the long-standing competition between the two designers, which lasted until the death of Yves Saint Laurent.
Christian Dior was so impressed by Yves Saint Laurent's designs that he immediately hired him as his assistant . The fashion talent Yves Saint Laurent was appointed chief designer after Christian Dior's death at the age of not even 21, making history at the time. Shortly afterwards, he was drafted due to the Algerian war, after which he suffered a nervous breakdown. This was treated in a Paris clinic and resulted in Yves Saint Laurent suffering from a drug problem for the rest of his life. Due to his nervous breakdown, he was fired from Dior. A few years later, he successfully sued Dior for breach of contract.
In 1960 he founded the fashion company of the same name, Yves Saint Laurent , and began to rewrite its history. It wasn't long before everyone was calling him the fashion prince . In 1962, Yves Saint Laurent released his debut collection with his partner Pierre. With this, he started the revolution of French couture fashion and left a big mark on the history of the fashion world. In 1964, the fashion house's first women's fragrance, "Y", was presented. Saint Laurent took a contemporary approach to couture, taking inspiration from global pop culture. His 1965 collection was inspired by graphic Mondarin dresses. In 1966, he designed sheath dresses inspired by prints by artists Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.
A year later, Yves Saint Laurent created the pantsuit Le Smoking , which was to become his greatest influence on the fashion world and its history. Le Smoking accentuated the female form in an elegant and matter-of-fact way. This gave the pantsuit a particularly emancipatory effect.
"Chanel liberated women and I gave them power" - Yves Saint Laurent
Catherine Deneuve and LouLou de la Falaise were welcome guests in the front row at Saint Laurent for many years. Yves Saint Laurent is considered a "revolutionary" of fashion design and influenced the fashion world with his style. He embodied French haute couture like no other in history. In 1998, Yves poached the designer Alber Elbaz from Guy Laroche to take over the ready-to-wear division at YSL. He brought a breath of fresh air to the fashion house with feather-light chiffon fabrics, feather-trimmed tops and angularly cut coats made of gold satin. But the collaboration did not last long, because after the takeover by the Gucci Group (now Kering), Alber Elbaz was replaced by Tom Ford. He left the fashion house in 2004 to set up his own label.
Yves Saint Laurent continued to design haute couture fashion until 2002. In his fashion, he concentrated particularly on silhouettes from the 20s, 30s and 40s and reinterpreted them. After his final retirement from the fashion world in 2002, the haute couture line was discontinued and Yves lived a secluded life in the Villa Majorelle in Marrakech. In 2007, he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Shortly afterwards, Yves Saint Laurent married his long-time partner Pierre Bergé . After his death on June 1, 2008 in Paris, his ashes were scattered in the rose gardens of the Villa Majorelle. But the history of the fashion house did not end with his death.
Even today, his suit Le Smoking is considered a fashion symbol in history for the second wave of the women's movement. Even after his death, Yves Saint Laurent is considered a luminary of elegant women's fashion and remains one of the most famous French fashion designers in history . His style was characterized by clear lines and simplicity , which he always combined with the color black .
Yves Saint Laurent Today
After the death of Yves Saint Laurent, sales fell so sharply that the fashion house had to close several stores. In 2021 , Hedi Slimane took over as chief designer. Hedi was already responsible for men's fashion at Yves Saint Laurent in the 1990s as creative director. During his four-year tenure, he is considered to have been the driving force behind the label's rock'n'roll spirit . Hedi Slimane accompanied the fashion house through the controversial rebranding to Saint Laurent and revived the couture division, which had been discontinued in 2002. In 2016 , Anthony Vaccarello took over his job, who made history by presenting women's and men's clothing on the runway for the first time at the fall-winter show in 2017. Even today, Saint Laurent is known for clean lines and extremely figure-hugging designs .
“Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it” – Yves Saint Laurent
