1936-2008 Yves Saint Laurent

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Saint Laurent, Yves***
Biography
http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/S/SaintL1au.asp


(ïv sa<breve>N lôräN´) , 1936-, French fashion designer, b. Algeria as Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent. He established houses of couture and boutiques in Paris and New York. He was the foremost assistant to Christian Dior and became his successor as head of the House of Dior at the age of 21. His early collections were noted for their extreme, maverick quality. He opened his own Paris house in 1961, featuring the “chic beatnik” look; knitted turtlenecks; thigh-length boots; and short jackets. He revolutionized the fashion world by creating trousers and broad-shouldered suits that were images of power for women. His later designs include sophisticated tweed suits, the Mondrian dress, pleated skirts, updated peasant costumes, tuxedos for women, and heavy costume jewelry. His focus on an androgynous look was extremely influential in the fashion of the 1970s. He also designed for the Ballets de Roland Petit. By the mid-1970s, at the height of his success, his design empire included sweaters, neckties, eyeglass cases, linens, children's clothes, and fragrances. Gucci acquired his ready-to-wear and cosmetics divisions in 2000. Saint Laurent announced his retirement in 2002.



****i love the cover of this book...
from amazon.com

 

[softgrey]

**more thorough bio from vogue.co.uk..


Born in 1936, Yves Saint Laurent grew up in Oran, Algeria. At 17, he left for Paris where he showed his drawings to Michel de Brunhoff, director of Vogue, who published several of them immediately. Following a stint at fashion school, Saint Laurent was introduced to Christian Dior by de Brunhoff and he went on to work for Dior until his death in 1957.
After taking over as art director for Dior, Saint Laurent launched his first collection for the company, the Ligne Trapéze, that year. It was a resounding success the world over and won him a Neiman Marcus Oscar. In 1960, Saint Laurent created his revolutionary "Beat Look" collection which used couture techniques to refine streetstyle. However, his dramatic designs were too much for the house of Dior and a year later they lifted bars on his national service.
When he returned from service in 1962, Saint Laurent set up his own fashion house with Pierre Bergé and continued to rock the establishment. In 1966, he introduced le smoking, his legendary smoking suit, which prompted the consequent androgynous revolution. He is now credited with a range of other innovations including the reefer jacket (1962), the sheer blouse (1966), and the jumpsuit (1968), as well as ready-to-wear culture as a whole.
In October 1998, Yves Saint Laurent showed his last ready-to-wear collection for the Rive Gauche label he had founded more than 30 years before. But, according to a sorrowful spokeswoman, the 61-year old designer was simply too overwrought to take his final bow. US designer Alber Elbaz was hand-picked to succeed him, but found that his career there was swiftly terminated after the Italian fashion Gucci bought full control of the business at the end of 1999 and handed the reins to powerhouse designer Tom Ford. Yves Saint Laurent retained control of the haute couture business and continues to show in Paris each season. These days, the reach of the Saint Laurent empire he founded and sold on is vast: the company produces menswear, furs, jewellery, perfumes and a range of accessories, all of which are distributed worldwide.
During his career, Saint Laurent was arguably the industry's greatest designer. Over the years, he received countless accolades: in 1985, he was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by President François Mitterand; in 1995, he was promoted to the rank of Officer of the Legion of Honour, finally becoming a Commandeur six years later. His status as a national icon was also cemented when, at the final of the 1998 World Cup, near Paris, 300 models presented a retrospective of YSL creations, to celebrate the designer's forty years in fashion, in front of 80,000 football fans and more than 170 international sports channels.
In January 2002, the 65-year-old designer announced his retirement. Paying tribute to his mentors, including Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Schiaparelli and Chanel, he revealed that his decision was based on a disgust with an industry that had become ruled more by commercial gain than art. "I have nothing in common with this new world of fashion, which has been reduced to mere window-dressing," he said. "Elegance and beauty have been banished." The news came just 16 days before he presented his final haute couture collection. In a fitting end to his 40-year career, the show constituted a thorough retrospective of his work: over an hour and a half long, it featured over 250 outfits, 40 of them new designs, and 100 models. A tearful Yves Saint Laurent took his final bow as his long-time muse, Catherine Deneuve, sang Ma Plus Belle Histoire d'Amour.

 

[Diorling]

Yves was in the military, talk about gays in the military. I can imagine him re-tailoring the uniforms. The House of Dior was very bitchy in that, it seems like they used the military as a way to get rid of him and bring Bohan in, who did nothing for Dior, because we'd know of him if he did.

 

[softgrey]

..
excellent post diorling...

 

[softgrey]

a couple of my fave looks from the archives...
the 'smock' or 'tunic' and the matisse inspired 'gypsy' blouse...


i think these are 'insanely' good.................

 

[Alpha Femme]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Front[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Side[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Back[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Detail[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Evening Dress, Soirée de Paris
by Yves Saint Laurent for Christian Dior, Paris
Autumn/Winter 1955
Black silk velvet trimmed with white silk satin
Gift of Marti Stevens, from the wardrobe of Marlene Dietrich, 1983.1.1253ab
Silverman/Rodgers Collection
KSUM 1983.1.8ab
White satin sash reproduced for the museum by Christian Dior, Paris, in 1996[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In 1955, just after the completion of his studies, Saint Laurent was introduced to Christian Dior, who hired him immediately as his assistant. This is the first dress Saint Laurent designed for Dior, and it was made famous in this photograph of the model Dovima by Richard Avedon for Harper's Bazaar.

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http://dept.kent.edu/museum/exhibit/YSL/1983_1_1253.htm

 

[Alpha Femme]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Soirée de Paris, 1955[/font]​

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Yves Saint Laurent[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Broadbent Gallery
March 3 to October 16, 2005
[/font]

[font=Arial,Helvetica][size=-1]Jean L. Druesedow[/size][size=-1]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Curator[/font][/size][/font]

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[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]For forty years, from 1962-2002, the Yves Saint Laurent label was one of the most coveted labels in haute couture, available to those 25-women in the world with the means to possess garments of the quality it represented. Superb design and hand workmanship characterize French haute couture, the finest or highest form of sewing, and no atelier excelled that of Yves Saint Laurent at 5 Avenue Marceau, 75116 Paris, France. [/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The majority of the garments in this exhibition are gifts to the Kent State University Museum from three fashionable women: Aileen Mehle, beter known as "Suzy," the New York society columnist; Mrs. William McCormick blair, Jr., a notable hostess of Washington, D.C.; and the late Joanne Toor Cummings, a New York City art patron, collector and philanthropist, the wife of Nathan Cummings, founder of Consolidated Foods Corporation, the maker of Sara Lee products. The Museum is grateful for the generosity of these women.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Jean L. Druesedow
Curator[/font]







[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This exhibition has been made possible by the Friends of Fashion
and with general operating support provided by the Ohio Arts Council.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]CLICK ON THE IMAGES FOR LINKS[/font]

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[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Yves Saint Laurent and the Little Black Dress[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]On Being a Couturier[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Yves Saint Laurent on the Haute Couture[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Suits[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Woman and the Couturier[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Pierre Bergé on the Haute Couture[/font]


*

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Copyright © 2001 The Kent State University Museum. All Rights Reserved.[/font]




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http://dept.kent.edu/museum/exhibit/YSL/main.htm

 

[PrinceOfCats]

i believe that these are cards and envelopes that YSL designed in 2000 for valentine's day....
perhaps someone whose french is a bit better than mine could verify this?...
thanks

isabelle.giffard.free.fr/ france/timbres/

Stamps, no? It says they were issued by the French post office for Valentine's day.

 

[Pastry]

I think this is an amazing thread! Yves Saint Laurent is no doubt a legend. Even though I am too young to remember the 'real' YSL, I can confidently say I love what the brand is (on the runway at least) today. The last two season's under Pilati's creative hand have been my favourite. Even though I can't compare his collections to vintage Yves Saint Laurent, they just seem so...Yves Saint Laurent. They feel right.

 

[softgrey]

Stamps, no? It says they were issued by the French post office for Valentine's day.

i know it says they were issued for valentines day...
it also says cards and envelopes....so they are not stamps dear poc...
i can't figure out what the two are that i didn't post...
maybe postcards...?...

 

[softgrey]

thanks alpha femme...
the pics are nice...but if you click on them and read the quotes...they are even better...
if i have time later, maybe i'll post them here...
everyone should definitely read them...they are amazing!!...

 

[Alpha Femme]

thanks alpha femme...

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http://www.dollsjapan.com/design.htm
[size=+1]Yves St. Laurent Jennys[/size] (Click on the picture to see a larger image )
Yves St. Laurent has been designing clothes since the age of 19 when he started at the prestigious House of Dior in Paris. Three years later he established his career with his first collection at a showing at the House of Dior after the death of Christian Dior in 1958. His designs were so well received that he abandoned his ambition to be a costume and set designer for the theater. Today he is known as the world’s foremost designer of haute couture. Of course it was only fitting that there be a line Yves St. Laurent designs for Takara’s Jenny.

The first Yves St. Laurent Jennys appeared on store shelves in Tokyo in 1986. Of all the designer Jennys these were the most elegant and the most representative of the world of high fashion. Two of the designs feature Jenny in tight black lace sheath dresses with wrap around satin skirts of red or dusty rose which were split up the center. Another design consisted of a black satin ball gown with lace top, tied at the waist with a hot pink bow. A few of these designs are similar to taffeta cocktail dresses from the designer’s 1981 collection. One of Jenny’s gathered black sheath cocktail dress which Mr. Laurent designed is very similar to an earlier Paris design from his Fall/Winter Christian Dior collection. This particular dress was donated to and then displayed at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1976. These Yves St. Laurent designs were available as separately boxed outfits as well as dressed Jenny dolls. The last contributions from Yves St. Laurent were in 1987 when the designer created two new Jenny gowns for Takara. The first was an elegant black lace over cream taffeta ball gown, complete with black feature boa and pearl jewelry. The second was a beautiful bridal Jenny in an elegant white and gold embroidered satin wedding gown. Both of these Jennys came packaged in the “shoe box” style complete with the clear acrylic collapsible display cases.

 

[Pastry]

Penelope Tree in YSL dress. Vogue Oct 15, 1967

 

[Alpha Femme]

(Reminder: To listen to history being made, you must have RealPlayer installed. If you can't access our audio clips, click here to download RealPlayer.)
[font=Geneva, Arial]Yves Saint Laurent, French fashion designer[/font]

[font=Geneva, Arial]Discusses his views on fashion [/font]



http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/archive/speech_317.html

 

[StyleIsInUs]

yay< great to see this thread in here< because i'M STARTING TO LIKE ysl MORE MORE AND MORE. i'M BORED OF THESSE ALL EVERYDAY LABELS. I love their heroin/romantic chic ...

I found it at ebay, lol. What you think? I saw the green one on some ad ...

 

[StyleIsInUs]

somethin from eBay

what you think?

 

[StyleIsInUs]

old and new YSl

 

[LeLuna]

Ooohhgooott!! *hug Softgrey* Thanks lot for making this thread!!! So loing it very much!!! Thanks everyone for the post, really making me loe the man even more!! My mom's a big fan of him, her wardrobe is full of ysl. They're sooooo amazingly beautiful and that's how I like him...

Softgrey, StyleIsInUs, MulletProof, Spike, Taz, Kit, Anna Karina, Helena & Alpha Femme: Super Thank you!! I loe that Piet Mondrian piece. I have a story about it, so my friend and I were doing a project, a design project to be exact. Then she showed me this print of painting from Piet Mondrian entitled 'Composition with red, yellow and blue' and she thinks we should start with it! Since I was shocked, I beamed on her, "THAT'S YSL!!!!" She was so surprised she jumped back I wouldn’t have known that was Piet Mondrian before my friend told me. I’m so silly…

 

[softgrey]

you are welcome leluna....
btw-that red dress is not ysl-it's tom ford...

***********************************
i would like to dedicate this thread to the memory of our dear friend KIT...
r.i.p...
...

 

[Alpha Femme]

The souvenir sheet above left was issued by France 2000, and was designed - and signed - by the French fashion designer Yves St. Laurent. The text says: "The Heart Never Leaves Me".

http://shoebox.heindorffhus.dk/frame-StValentine.htm