1936-2008 Yves Saint Laurent

[tylw]

A Yves Saint Laurent Couture Black Sequined Dress, with a velvet trimmed bow at neck, lace with sequins throughout. Labeled: Yves Saint Laurent/Paris 071150. Property from a private collector, Hoboken, New Jersey.



ebay.com

 

[tylw]

An Yves Saint Laurent Couture Black Dress, 1970s, with stitching throughout to create a texturized surface, full length sleeves, wrap style at front creating a deep V, pencil fit skirt. Labeled: Yves Saint Laurent/Paris 60907. Property from a private collector, Hoboken, New Jersey.



ebay.com

 

[tylw]

An Yves Saint Laurent Leopard Print Dress, 1980s, fitted dress with three quarter sleeves, fully lined. Labeled: Yves Saint Laurent/Rive Gauche. Property from a private collector, Hoboken, New Jersey.



ebay.com

 

[tylw]

An Yves Saint Laurent Black Wool Dress, with rhinestone buttons at front, hidden pockets, fully lined. Labeled: Yves Saint Laurent/Rive Gauche.



ebay.com

 

[SomethingElse]

A model wears a pastel yellow coat, almost chartreuse, made with a soft, downy fabric. Offsetting the wide sleeves and the high turtleneck-type collar are delicate filigree buttons. Paris fashion designer Yves St. Laurent designed this coat for his 1963 autumn collection.

corbis.com

 

[SomethingElse]

`African' Collection mini-dress, Summer, Spring-Summer, 1967, labelled and numbered 14635, the beige silk/linen under-dress covered with a tunic of latticed wooden beads, the broad straps formed from linked wooden squares and smaller beads, pendant fringes to the upper bodice, zip fastened, lined in beige silk.

kerrytaylorauctions.com

 

[SomethingElse]

`Variations' blue velvet suit, 1980s, labelled and size 42, US 10, with gilded buttons and gold and blue brocaded pockets.

kerrytaylorauctions.com

 

[modillustr]

Thanks for your always appreciated beautifuls posts, SomethingElse ! I don't know why but this velvet blue and brocaded gold evocate ancient Egypt to me...
Vogue fr ad, F/W 85, photo Helmut Newton,model:?
(personal scan)

 

[DosViolines]

Yves Saint Laurent, evening dress, brown organza, plastic plaques, bronzetone beads, black seed beads, and gold metallic beads, 1967, France

This dress is from Saint Laurent’s “African” collection, his first to look beyond Western fashion. Stylized African motifs and patterns are used to evoke traditional tribal clothing and jewelry. Although inspired by African design, the intricate beading and embroidery were accomplished using materials and techniques typical of couture embellishment.

fitnyc.edu

 

[DosViolines]

Yves Saint Laurent, hat, burgundy felt with faux fur, 1975, France

The undisputed master of eclectic exoticism, Yves Saint Laurent, explored the traditions of many cultures, including Spain, China, and Mongolia. His influence was widely felt throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

fitnyc.edu

 

[DosViolines]

Yves Saint Laurent (French, born Algeria, 1936). Evening Ensemble, fall/winter 1976-77. Blouse: multicolored floral printed silk chiffon with gold lamé polka-dot brocade; Skirt: black silk velvet and green silk moiré; Belt: maroon silk velvet with gold lamé, rhinestone, and silk embroidery and maroon and gold metallic and maroon silk twined rope and tassles.

In the mid-1970s the relevance of haute couture was seriously debated. The political and social upheaval of the 1960s, the emergence of a plethora of creative ready-to-wear designers, and the increasing preference for a sportswear approach to dressing as represented by American fashion were among the shifts in lifestyles and taste that appeared to sound the death knell of the calcified and elitist world of the maisons de couture.

It was at this time that Yves Saint Laurent, haute couture’s preeminent practitioner, threw caution to the prevailing winds with a collection of unrivaled fantasy and luxury. He called it his “Russian Collection,” but his designs were Slavic only in their Oriental excess and opulence. Inspired by the Bakst costumes of the Ballets Russes, each ensemble appeared to be a repudiation of the informal, pared-down, and functional looks of the street. By employing all the techniques of the petites mains—those workshops of embroiderers, passementerie makers, lace weavers, feather workers, and jewelry makers—Saint Laurent revived the taste for elegant excess. Compared to the Art Deco spareness of the 1930s-revival crepe and jersey evening columns popular during the period, the Russian ball gowns were a sensory explosion of color, ornament, scale, and even sound, for each skirt was supported by a coordinated taffeta petticoat that announced the approach of its wearer with a dry rustle.

blog.mode

 

[taz]

this what I like about Mr. St. Laurent, he did what he did in the right time & each theme of his collections has its own purpose & meaning.

 

[DosViolines]

Yves Saint Laurent (Algeria, 1936 - 2003)
Woman's 'Mondrian' Dress, 1965
Wool knit

lacma.org

 

[DosViolines]

Yves Saint Laurent (Algeria, 1936 - 2003)
Woman's Dress, 1967
Silk organza and silk faille with silk embroidery

lacma.org

 

[taz]

" Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it." - Yves Saint Laurent

groszki

 

[DosViolines]

Yves Saint Laurent Spider Web Necklace
1970s
Worked with jet, white rhinestones and one large translucent gray/green stone.

doylenewyork

 

[taz]

"Une Passion Marocaine" the new exhibition at Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent (until Aug. 31), ....I'll be there in May

Saint-Laurent's Moroccan inspiration

By Suzy Menkes
Published: March 17, 2008

Jessica Michault. Bridesmaid apparel, splendid enough to ward off the evil eye.

PARIS: In this blue and green garden of earthly delights, the "flowers" are caftans sprouting in apricot velvet, in bouganvillea pink or in peacock turquoise.
"Yet when we first found the Majorelle garden, it was in ruins," said Pierre Bergé, referring to the image of the famous gardens in Marrakech projected on the wall of an exhibition dedicated to an exotic world that was both home and a source of inspiration for Yves Saint Laurent.
"Une Passion Marocaine" at the Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent (until Aug. 31) is about two people who were both mad for Morocco from the first moment that they discovered it in 1966. The visit, Bergé said, began with a week of rain and ended with the purchase of the house and ultimately the restoration of the Majorelle gardens, named for the French painter and his chosen shade of blue.

Although the show opens with a glimpse of Saint Laurent's Moroccan perfumed couture in 1989 - two grand outfits dense with Mediterranean flower embroideries - the core of the exhibition is in the nearby 19th-century violet velvet wedding caftan, rich with gilding. It is one of the historical Moroccan garments, collected by Nour and Boubker Temli and showing the variety of imagination within the framework of one simple shape.
Christophe Martin, the creative director, wanted to transport the enthusiasm of Bergé and Saint Laurent to a compact space in central Paris - yet at the same time to express the diversity and history of the caftan. The show opens with a display of the sumptuous urban robes that were, as Martin said, "shown only for the pleasure of husbands" - meaning that the rich and rare caftans would have been covered by a djellaba outside the home.

In contrast, bold ropes of necklaces are Berber rural jewelry, worn as tribal symbols for rites of passage. The sophisticated garments shown beside a trickling fountain and Majorelle blue cacti can also have hidden cultural meanings. A squatting mannequin, her embroidered slippers tucked in front of her, is in fact a symbolic figure whose wedding accoutrements are meant to ward off evil from the actual bride.
Among delicate fabrics on display are two "bibs" - embroidered cover-ups designed to protect caftan sleeves when hands were being painted with henna.

Saint Laurent, born in Oran, Algeria, picked up other north African vibes. A pair of velvet Zouave pants from 1979, shown with a snug frog-fastened jacket, could have been designed for the current fashion world.
Moroccan designers also try to fuse the caftan with a Western wardrobe. Beside a sensual Orientalist portrait from 1869 are modern creations by Tamy Tazi.
"I found it on an old stall - I didn't know until I saw one in a museum that it was Jewish embroidery," says Tazi of the vintage caftan that inspired her version in a fine woollen fabric. Her inspirations include printing the effect of embroidery on a chiffon caftan, one of the modernized designs made in her 20-strong Casablanca studio.

Saint Laurent himself described in 1983 how he embraced the inspiration of the light and colors of Marrakech, its "insolent mixes" and "ardent inventions." "But I wasn't content with importing this culture," he said. "I annexed, transformed and adapted it."

International Herald Tribune

 

[taz]

“The most beautiful makeup for a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy.”

Yves Saint Laurent once said

 

[DosViolines]

mmfa.qc.ca

Yves Saint Laurent

May 29 to September 28, 2008

In partnership with the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are presenting the first retrospective spanning the forty years of creativity of the Maison Haute Couture Yves Saint Laurent. Presented from May 29 to September 28, 2008, the exhibition Yves Saint Laurent focusses on this virtuoso of haute couture, whose unique style blends references to the world of art with allusions to pop culture and social revolution. Structured around four themes, the exhibition develops the revolutionary nature of a body of work that has marked both the past and the present with a new definition of femininity and left a signature that transcends fashion. The display will include 160 accessorized creations belonging to the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, as well as drawings and videos. After Montreal, the exhibition will be presented at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, from November 1, 2008, to March 1, 2009.

Yves Saint Laurent is famed for revolutionizing the haute couture tradition and laying the foundations of modern women’s wear. The wardrobe basics that he designed – pantsuit, culotte skirt, pea coat, blazer, safari jacket and tuxedo *– shone with his innovative style and became true timeless classics. His designs were equally remarkable, reflecting wide-ranging sources of inspiration. In Saint Laurent’s stylistic vocabulary, music, art, performance, literature and impressions of far-off places were just as important as the new shapes he introduced.

The exhibition’s themes
The exhibition will be divided into four themes: “Masterful Pencil Strokes,” where the designer’s idea is followed from the original sketch; “The YSL Revolution,” where feminized versions of men’s attire rub shoulders with seductive apparel; “The Palette,” which shows how traditional rules of colour harmony were reversed in new contrasts inspired by cross-fertilization; and “Lyrical Sources,” which explores the historical, literary (Proust, Oscar Wilde, Louis Aragon, Jean Cocteau…) and artistic influences that were interpreted and translated by this genius of couture. Throughout his career, Yves Saint Laurent has taken the time to examine the work of the great artists of our day, expressing his personal tastes and the paintings he admires by transforming painting into fabric. Some of his models take up the visual sensations of Impressionism, while others liberate the expressive power of some of the great names and movements of modern art: Mondrian and Poliakoff in 1965, the Pop Art dresses in 1966, Picasso in 1979 and Braque in 1988.

Publication
A lavishly illustrated catalogue with texts by Florence Müller and Hamish Bowles accompanies the exhibition. Published in separate English and French editions by Éditions de La Martinière, it distinguishes itself from previous publications devoted to Yves Saint Laurent through its presentation of little-known ensembles and detailed captions, as well as a thematic overview accompanied by explanatory texts. It includes photos by Alexandre Guirkinger that were shot especially for this publication.

André Rau; Yves Saint Laurent; Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent;

Yves Saint Laurent; Evening Ensemble; Fall-Winter 1990; Coat with ostrich, rooster and pheasant feather embroidery. Muslin dress. Metal and crystal pendant earings and cuff bracelets. Satin pumps; Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent; Photo Alexandre Guirkinger

Yves Saint Laurent; Original sketch for the Wedding Dress from the collection sketchbook; Fall-Winter 1988; Graphite on paper, gazar sample; Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent; Photo Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent

 

[DosViolines]

Géraldine Dormoy, from Café Mode, was invited to view the archives of the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent. You can read all about it here.