From his first collection for Christian Dior in 1958 which made him instantly famous at the age of 21 (!), and for the four decades that followed - including the opening of his eponymous house in 1962 - Yves Saint Laurent demonstrated a relevance and influence that continues to elude most fashion designers, even now.
While he has been credited with helping ease women such as Catherine Deneuve, Paloma Picasso, Nan Kempner, Lauren Bacall, Marella Agnelli and Marie-Hélène de Rothschild into pants for day and evening, along with safari jackets, trenchcoats, leopard prints, boho hippie garb, and even sailors' peacoats from NYC Army/Navy stores, his biggest hit was arguably Le Smoking, based on a man's tuxedo and oozing a high glam brand of hard-edged androgenous sex appeal...not to mention a disguise in the case of a pregnant (with daughter Jade) Bianca Perez Morena de Macias at her 1971 marriage to Mick Jagger).
"His glamorous evening clothes were often adorned with appliqués and beadwork inspired by artists like Picasso, Miró and Matisse," writes The New York Times about the designer, who recently died at the age of 71 in Paris, remarking that his 1965 Mondrian collection was "among his greatest successes...Above all, he was a master colorist, able to mix green, blue, rose and yellow in one outfit to achieve an effect that was artistic and never garish."
- Lesley Scott
(images: YSL for Christian Dior gown with elephants shot by Irving Penn - Diana Muse; Bianca Jagger white suit & illustration - Allure; le Smoking shot by Helmut Newton - pearlsandsands; Mondrian dress - The Luxe Chronicles; portraits: nude Yves Saint Laurent - Timeline Fashion; pop art - Wolfs* on Blanche; classic portrait - The Curated Object; Opium ad - ASA.uk.org)
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