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Works of: Yves Saint Laurent

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Works of: Yves Saint Laurent

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80.71.35

Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche

Date: c. 1970

Medium: Polyester knit

Object: Set

Object number: 80.71.35

82.183.11

Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche

Date: c. 1970

Medium: Wool gabardine

Object: Pantsuit

Object number: 82.183.11

96.84.8

Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche

Date: 1968

Medium: Cotton

Object: Top

Object number: 96.84.8

82.183.4

Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche

Date: c. 1970

Medium: Cotton demin

Object: Jacket

Object number: 82.183.4

P89.55.4

Yves Saint Laurent

Date: c. 1970

Medium: Silk crepe

Object: Set

Object number: P89.55.4

75.108.9

Yves Saint Laurent

Date: 1969

Medium: Silk organza, satin, and taffeta

Object: Set

Object number: 75.108.9

Front

Yves Saint Laurent

Date: Fall 1969

Medium: Silk organza, sequins, and beads

Object: Evening set

Object number: 74.107.8

76.201.2

Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche

Date: 1970

Medium: Multicolor velvet

Object: Evening dress

Object number: 76.201.2

2014.36.1

Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche

Date: Fall/Winter 1970-1971

Medium: Marabou feathers and silk

Object: Coat

Object number: 2014.36.1

88.170.1

Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche

Date: c. 1972

Medium: Velveteen

Object: Man's suit

Object number: 88.170.1

86.126.14

Yves Saint Laurent

Date: Spring 1971

Medium: Silk chiffon

Object: Gown

Object number: 86.126.14

76.171.2

Yves Saint Laurent

Date: c. 1973

Medium: Printed silk chiffon

Object: Evening set

Object number: 76.171.2

88.89.1

Yves Saint Laurent

Date: 1972

Medium: Silk taffeta

Object: Evening gown

Object number: 88.89.1

87.146.27

Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche

Date: 1972

Medium: Silk chiffon

Object: Evening dress

Object number: 87.146.27

80.71.55

Yves Saint Laurent

Date: c.1975

Medium: Metal and glass

Object: Belt

Object number: 80.71.55

88.1.178

Yves Saint Laurent

Date: 1973-1975

Medium: Cotton canvas, jute and ribbon

Object: Shoes

Object number: 88.1.178

93.1.26

Yves Saint Laurent

Date: c. 1975

Medium: Silk crepe

Object: Set

Object number: 93.1.26

88.1.69

Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche

Date: 1974

Medium: Silk jersey

Object: Evening gown

Object number: 88.1.69

79.169.7

Yves Saint Laurent

Date: c.1976

Medium: Leather and plastic

Object: Shoes

Object number: 79.169.7

86.126.11

Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche

Date: 1975

Medium: Wool / acrylic polyamide

Object: Jumpsuit

Object number: 86.126.11

91.212.1

Yves Saint Laurent

Date: c. 1977

Medium: Beige cotton and brown leather

Object: Coat

Object number: 91.212.1

91.221.1

Yves Saint Laurent

Date: 1975-1976

Medium: Leather, suede, and cord

Object: Shoes

Object number: 91.221.1

82.52.10

Yves Saint Laurent

Date: 1976

Medium: Burgundy velour felt, black faux fur and cording

Object: Hat

Object number: 82.52.10

83.190.43

Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche

Date: 1976

Medium: Beige wool, brown velvet, gold braid, and beige silk

Object: Ensemble

Object number: 83.190.43

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Artist Info

Yves Saint Laurent

Quite simply, Yves Saint Laurent (1936–2008) is one of the greatest names in fashion history. Along with Christian Dior and Coco Chanel, he was part of a couturier triumvirate that epitomized the best of twentieth-century fashion and style. A prodigious sketcher, he was never an “inventor” of styles, nor was he a master craftsman. Instead, like Chanel before him, Saint Laurent was a modernist who re-contextualized many items of functional clothing, such as safari jackets and men’s tuxedos, into chic and feminine wardrobe staples. Saint Laurent also produced sweepingly exotic and romantic clothes inspired by such diverse sources as Russian ballet or the demimonde of the Belle Epoque. Few couturiers could match Saint Laurent’s blend of perfectly proportioned cuts and brilliant color combinations.

Although he was known to the world at large by his initials—YSL—the designer was born Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent in Oran, Algeria. A precocious talent, he moved to Paris to pursue a fashion career. When he was just seventeen, Saint Laurent was hired as Christian Dior’s assistant; a mere four years later, following Dior’s sudden death, he was named head of Dior’s house. While his first collection was a triumph, subsequent seasons were viewed as too avant-garde. After a traumatic stint in the army and his firing from Dior, Saint Laurent opened his own fashion house in 1961 with Pierre Bergé, his longtime business partner.

His ready-to-wear line, Rive Gauche, which debuted in 1966, set the template for other French couturiers, while for four decades, until his retirement in 2002, Saint Laurent changed the course of fashion. He created a number of landmark styles: his odes to art, from Piet Mondrian shift dresses in 1965 to his 1980 Picasso collection; his Le Smoking tailored tuxedo suit in 1966; his spring 1971 collection, inspired by 1940s fashion; and his Ballets Russes (1976–77) and Chinese (1977–78) collections. Saint Laurent was also noted for his use of ethnic models at his runway shows and for the bevy of inspiring women—from Betty Catroux to Catherine Deneuve—who were enmeshed in his designing life.

So celebrated was Saint Laurent during his lifetime that, in 1983, he was the first living fashion designer to have a monographic exhibition of his work organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While they are more common today, such exhibitions were controversial at the time.