YSL - the symbol from the intertwining of these three letters is known the world over. It is thanks to Yves Saint Laurent, one of the most charismatic designers in history. It is thanks to him that haute couture fashion began to be accessible not only to the wealthy, but to anyone who dreamed of it.
Founded in 1961, Saint Laurent is one of the most famous fashion houses of the 20th century. Originally called the House of Haute Couture, Yves Saint Laurent revolutionised the way that exclusive fashion could reach the public. From 1966 he began to introduce high-quality garments produced on a larger scale than the select cassandras, while maintaining their luxurious nature. Revolution is written into the brand's DNA.
Chic and exotic
Yves Mathieu-Saint-Laurent, because that was his actual name, was born in 1936 in Oran, at that time French-influenced Algeria. He was a talented draughtsman and artist. He came to France to take his first fashion steps at the fashion house Dior. He did so well that he succeeded Christian Dior after the designer's sudden death. He was 21 years old when he released his well-received "Trapèze" cassandra. He worked another few years before finally leaving his lucrative position to open a company under his own name with his partner Pierre Bergé. They met in 1958 and shared another fifty years of life until Yves' death.
The first haute couture cassandra signed YSL was presented in 1962. The Mondrian dress or the "Pop Art" cassandra later became a furore. Saint Laurent was not afraid to break conventions. He took the dinner jacket and suit out of the men's wardrobe and put them in the hands of women. He offered them a safari jacket, thigh-high boots and transparent blouses. The press thundered about the sexual revolution of which he was to be one of the inspirers.
He loved art, exoticism and luscious colours. He was the first to employ models and models of Asian and African beauty on the catwalk. Modernist and strongly attentive to his times, he created his luxury ready-to-wear in parallel with haute couture under the name Rive Gauche, which later became an example for many other fashion designers. During these years, Yves Saint Laurent discovered Morocco, where he and his partner bought the Majorelle house and garden, importing fabulous plants from around the world. Over the following floral-detail, their business grew with the success of successive perfumes, cosmetics or accessories.
By the end of the 1990s, Yves tired of ready-to-wear design, he concentrated on haute couture, finally abandoning it in 2002 and officially ending his career. He died six years later.
Still at the top
To this day Saint Laurent is still firmly established among the world's top fashion houses. It easily competes worldwide with the most exclusive luxury brands and holds a leading position among them.
Under the creative vision of Anthony Vaccarello and under the direction of Francesca Bellettini, the brand has built a solid foundation for its development and continues its evolution. Anthony is the Belgian-born only son of Italian parents. Extremely bored for two years at law school, he decided to drop out and transfer to the La Cambre school of visual arts and fashion in Brussels. He graduated in 2006, the same year he entered a competition at the Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography with a cassandra inspired by Cicciolina and won the top prize. It was a presentation of the dresses at a popular boutique in Paris. From then on, his career took off as fast as the rate at which the dresses were sold.
He got under the artistic supervision of Pierre Bergé and made a name for himself. And above all, a vision of the woman in his clothes: devilishly sexy, daring, free and determined. High heels, little material, preferably in shiny leather and mega-long slender legs are what he likes best. Especially if the owners of those legs are his friends, top models Karlie Kloss and Anja Rubik. After becoming creative director of Saint Laurent, another challenge awaited him, which he met without a hitch: to create a men's line that pays homage to the brand's icare and gallant founder. This is how Rive Gauche returned...
Experts say that the house of Saint Laurent under Vaccarello's leadership is a modern reflection on femininity and luxury that is always within reach, with the kind of emotion that contributes to writing the further pages of Parisian fashion history.
SAINT LAURENT SKÓRZANE BOTKI WEST:
saint laurent x peanuts snoopy print sweatshirt item:
