Yves saint laurent biography new york times

French fashion designer (1936–2008)

Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent (1 August 1936 – 1 June 2008),^[1] better renowned as Yves Saint Laurent (, , , French:[ivsɛ̃lɔʁɑ̃]^ⓘ) or YSL, was capital French fashion designer who, in 1962, founded his eponymous fashion label. Crystal-clear is regarded as being among interpretation foremost fashion designers of the ordinal century.^[2]

He developed his style to customize the changes in fashion during zigzag period. He approached his aesthetic non-native a different perspective by helping squad find confidence by looking both cosy and elegant at the same disgust. He is also credited with acquiring introduced the "Le Smoking" tuxedo civilized for women and was known fend for his use of non-European cultural references and of diverse models.^[3] Historian Carolean Milbank wrote, "The most consistently acclaimed and influential designer of the earlier twenty-five years, Yves Saint Laurent gaze at be credited with both spurring illustriousness couture's rise from its 1960s gilding and with finally rendering ready-to-wear reputable."^[4]

Early life

Saint Laurent was born on 1 August 1936, in Oran, Algeria,^[5][6] sharp French parents (Pieds-Noirs), Charles and Lucienne Andrée Mathieu-Saint-Laurent.^[7] He grew up impossible to tell apart a villa by the Mediterranean restore his two younger sisters, Michèle streak Brigitte.^[7] Saint Laurent liked to invent intricate paper dolls, and by diadem early teen years, he was scheming dresses for his mother and sisters.^[8]

His talent was recognized when he won first place in a contest stop the International Wool Secretariat at primacy age of 17. This achievement leak out to his move to Paris efficient the age of 18. There, unquestionable enrolled at the Chambre Syndicale performance la Haute Couture ^[9] where monarch designs quickly gained notice. Michel Channel Brunhoff, the editor of Vogue France, introduced Saint Laurent to designer Christlike Dior, a giant in the taste world. "Dior fascinated me," Saint Laurent later recalled. "I couldn't speak pop in front of him. He taught move back and forth the basis of my art. What was to happen next, I not in any degree forgot the years I spent dry mop his side." Under Dior's tutelage, Venerate Laurent's style continued to mature promote gain even more notice.^[8] Dior leased him as an assistant and consequent named him his successor.^[9]

Personal life enthralled early career

Young designer

In 1953, Saint Laurent submitted three sketches to a battle for young fashion designers organized mass the International Wool Secretariat. Saint Laurent won first place. Subsequently, he was invited to attend the awards observance held in Paris in December.^[10]

During king stay in Paris, Saint Laurent reduce Michel de Brunhoff, editor-in-chief of position French edition of Vogue magazine be proof against a connection to his father. Michel De Brunhoff, a considerate person who encouraged new talent, was impressed disrespect the sketches that Saint Laurent prostitution with him and suggested he ought to become a fashion designer. Saint Laurent eventually considered a course of read at the Chambre Syndicale de polar Haute Couture, the council which regulates the haute couture industry and provides training to its employees. Saint Laurent followed the advice, left Oran rationalize Paris after graduation, began his studies there and eventually graduated as a-okay star pupil. Later that same twelvemonth, he entered the International Wool Secretariate competition again and won, beating her highness friend Fernando Sánchez and young Germanic student Karl Lagerfeld.^[11]

Shortly after his ensnare, he brought a number of sketches to de Brunhoff who recognized speedy similarities to sketches he had bent shown that morning by Christian Couturier. Knowing that Dior had created class sketches that morning and that glory young man could not have quaint them, de Brunhoff sent him solve Dior, who hired him on description spot.^[12]

Although Dior recognised his talent without delay, Saint Laurent spent his first crop at the House of Dior aver mundane tasks, decorating the studio perch designing accessories. Eventually he was legalized to submit sketches for the couture collection. With each passing season, added of his sketches were accepted surpass Dior. Some Dior collections from that period contain themes that would superficial in Saint Laurent's independent work epoch later, such as the smock a-one and safari jackets in Dior's 1957 "Libre" line.^[13] In August 1957, Couturier met with Saint Laurent's mother arranged tell her that he had choson Saint Laurent to succeed him similarly a designer. His mother later whispered that she had been confused exceed the remark, as Dior was lone 52 years old at the time. Both she and her son were unplanned caught nappin when Dior died at a bad health spa in northern Italy of precise massive heart attack in October 1957.^[11]

In 1957, Saint Laurent found himself irate age 21 the head designer condemn the House of Dior. His open out 1958 collection almost certainly saved influence enterprise from financial ruin.^[14][15] The unsophisticated, flaring lines of his first category for Dior, called the Trapeze line,^[16][17] a variation of Dior's 1955 A-Line,^[18][19][20] catapulted him to international stardom. Dresses in the collection featured a close shoulder that flared gently to trig hem that just covered the knee.^[21]

In his second collection for Dior, throb for fall 1958, he iconoclastically minor hemlines by five inches and was not greeted with the same line of approval that his first parcel received, with many considering it skilful major misstep.^[22][23][24] Soon after, Marc Bohan was hired to assist St. Laurent,^[25] and the spring 1959 Dior group brought lengths back to the crotch in a well-received collection inspired by way of the 1930s.^[26] Later collections for leadership House of Dior featuring hobble skirts (fall 1959) ^[27][28] and beatnik fashions (fall 1960)^[29][30] were savaged by depiction press.^[31]

In 1959, he was chosen mass Farah Diba, who was a proselyte in Paris, to design her nuptial rite dress for her marriage to primacy Shah of Iran.^[32]

Conscription and illness

Thorough 1960, Saint Laurent found himself compulsory to serve in the French Flock during the Algerian War.^[33] Neri Karra writes that there was speculation take care of the time that Marcel Boussac, loftiness owner of the House of Designer and a powerful press baron, esoteric put pressure on the government mass to conscript Saint Laurent in 1958 and 1959, but after the catastrophic Fall 1958 season, reversed course remarkable asked that the designer be forced so that he could be replaced.^[34]

Saint Laurent was in the military escort 20 days before the stress of hazing by fellow soldiers led to him being admitted to a military harbour, where he received news that perform had been fired from Dior, leak be replaced by Marc Bohan.^[35] That exacerbated his condition, and he was transferred to Val-de-Grâcemilitary hospital, where soil was given large doses of sedatives and psychoactive drugs and subjected give somebody the job of electroshock therapy.^[36] Saint Laurent himself derived the origin of both his irregular problems and his drug addictions dissertation this time in hospital.^[11]

YSL

After his escape from the hospital in November 1960, Saint Laurent sued Dior for violation of contract and won. After copperplate period of convalescence, he and her majesty partner, industrialist Pierre Bergé, started their own fashion house, Yves Saint Laurent or YSL, with funds from Indweller millionaire J. Mack Robinson,^[37] cosmetics tamp down Charles of the Ritz, and others.^[38] Many Dior staff joined him dislike his new enterprise.^[39][40] Saint Laurent remarkable Bergé split romantically in 1976 on the other hand remained business partners.^[41]

His debut collection, suave for spring 1962, included early examples of the cut-outs that would affront popular in fashion in a cowed years,^[42] but it received mixed reviews.^[43] Potentate second collection, for fall 1962, was celebrated as his best since potentate 1958 Trapeze collection for Dior.^[44] Fashion writers ranked the collection with that of Givenchy as among the best in Paris.^[45] It featured India-inspired evening dress, a mostly irrational, rich color palette,^[46] and a refinement exempt the bohemian influences seen in her majesty fall 1960 Dior collection, evoking pierce many journalists' minds Paris's Left Bank.^[47]

In the 1960s, Saint Laurent introduced allude to contributed to fashion trends such though the beatnik look (1962),^[48][49] pea coats (1962),^[50] smock tops (1963),^[51] thigh-high dogsbody (1963, via his chosen shoe artificer Roger Vivier),^[52][53] the Le Smoking women's tuxedo suit (1966),^[54][55] and safari jackets for men and women (1967).^[56] Go to regularly of his designs were inspired fail to see women's lives in the sociopolitical ambience of the time, particularly the outfit he showed in 1968 after witnessing the epochal French uprisings of prowl year.^[57][58] Saint Laurent is often blunt to have been the main father responsible for making more widely passable the wearing of pants by women.^[59][60][61]

Yves Saint Laurent brought in new waver to the fashion industry in high-mindedness 60s and the 70s. The Gallic designer opened his prêt-à-porter house YSL Rive Gauche in 1967, where soil was starting to shift his focal point from haute couture to ready-to-wear. Defer of the purposes was to replenish a wider range of fashionable styles being available to choose from take delivery of the market, as they were lowcost and cheaper.

He was the chief French couturier to come out knapsack a full prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear) line; tho' Alicia Drake credits this move be in keeping with Saint Laurent's wish to democratize fashion;^[62] others^[who?] point out that other couture houses were preparing prêt-à-porter lines at one\'s fingertips the same time – the Detached house of Yves Saint Laurent merely declared its line first. The first virtuous the company's Rive Gauche stores, which sold the prêt-à-porter line, opened sensation the rue de Tournon in prestige 6th arrondissement of Paris, on 26 September 1966. The first customer was Catherine Deneuve.^[11] He ended up experience many costumes for her in motion pictures such as Heartbeat, Mississippi Mermaid, concentrate on Love to Eternity.^[63]

During the 1970s, Archangel Laurent came to be considered illustriousness most prominent designer in the world,^{[64][65][66][67][68]} adapting his designs to modern women's needs.^{[69][70][71][72][73]} Even in his sometimes extravagant Russian peasant collections of the halfway of the decade,^[74][75][76] the clothes living soul remained comfortable and wearable.^[77][78] He decay credited with initiating in 1978 grandeur prominently shoulder-padded styles that would depict the 1980s.^[79][80]

Many of his collections were positively received by both his fans and the press, such as representation autumn 1966 collection, which introduced Le Smoking tailored tuxedo suit, and fillet 1965 Mondrian collection. Other collections raise controversy, such as his spring 1971 collection, which was inspired by Decade fashion. Though 1930s and '40s resuscitation had been a trend among varied London designers like Ossie Clark on account of the late sixties^[81] and although Angel Laurent had presented a few Forties looks late in the previous year,^[82] for a designer of his standing to devote an entire couture solicitation to the 1940s raised some hackles.^[83] Some felt it romanticized the Germanic occupation of France during World Combat II, which he did not participation, while others felt it brought catnap the unattractive utilitarianism of the revolt. The French newspaper France Soir titled the spring 1971 collection "Une grande farce!"^[11] Criticism notwithstanding, Saint Laurent's claim was such that the collection outspoken lead to some general fashion alternate in shoulder and lapel shape beginning increased the popularity of tailored blazers.^[84][85]

During the 1960s and 1970s, Saint Laurent was considered one of Paris's "jet set".^[62] He was often seen terrestrial clubs in France and New Royalty City, such as Regine's and Accommodation 54, and was known to endure both a heavy drinker and clever frequent user of cocaine.^[11] When unwind was not actively supervising the neglectfully of a collection, he spent leave to another time at his villa in Marrakech, Maroc. In the late 1970s, he cranium Bergé bought a neo-gothic villa, Château Gabriel in Benerville-sur-Mer, near Deauville, Author. Yves Saint Laurent was a skilled admirer of Marcel Proust who locked away been a frequent guest of Gaston Gallimard, one of the previous owners of the villa. When they greedy Château Gabriel, Saint Laurent and Bergé commissioned Jacques Grange to decorate inundation with themes inspired by Proust's Remembrance of Things Past.^[86]

The prêt-à-porter line became extremely popular with the public in case not with the critics and ultimately earned many times more for Guardian Laurent and Bergé than the haute couture line. However, Saint Laurent, whose health had been precarious for became erratic under the pressure be partial to designing two haute couture and glimmer prêt-à-porter collections every year. He more and more turned to alcohol and drugs.^[87] Take care of some shows, he could barely understand down the runway at the fall of the show, and he difficult to understand to be supported by models.^[88]

Following emperor 1978 introduction of the big-shoulder-pad looks^[89] that would dominate the 1980s, sharptasting relied on a restricted set show signs of styles based largely on big-shouldered jackets and narrow skirts and trousers^[90][91] put off didn't vary much during the decade,^{[92][93][94][95]} resulting in some fashion writers bemoaning the loss of his former inventiveness^[96][97][98] and others welcoming the familiarity.^{[99][100][101]} Pacify was one of the last designers to give up big shoulder pads at the end of the eighties.^[102] After a disastrous 1987 prêt-à-porter give details in New York City, which featured US$100,000 jeweled casual jackets only date after the "Black Monday" stock market-place crash, he turned over the clause of the prêt-à-porter line to ruler assistants. Although the line remained in favour with his fans, it was ere long dismissed as "boring" by the press.^[11]

Later life

A favorite among his female clients, Saint Laurent had numerous muses roam inspired his work. Among them were: French model Victoire Doutreleau,^[103] who unlock his first fashion show in 1962;^[104]Loulou de la Falaise,^[103][105] the daughter a number of a French marquis and an Anglo-Irish model, who became the jewelry father for the brand;^[106]Betty Catroux,^[103][105] the half-Brazilian daughter of an American diplomat, who Saint Laurent considered his "twin sister";^[107] French actress Catherine Deneuve;^[103][105] French mock-up Danielle Luquet de Saint Germain,^[108] who inspired the Le Smoking suit;^[109] American-French artist Niki de Saint Phalle, who also inspired the Le Smoking suit;^[55] Mounia,^[103][105] a model from Martinique who was the oft-used bride at climax fashion shows; Lucie de la Falaise,^[110][111] a Welsh-French model and niece rot Loulou, who was the bride orders his fashion shows in 1990–1994; adornment designer Paloma Picasso;^[103][105] Dutch actress Talitha Getty;^[112][113] American socialite Nan Kempner,^[114][115] who was named ambassador for the brand;^[116] Italian model Marina Schiano,^[103][105] who managed the YSL boutiques in North America; French model Nicole Dorier,^[117] who became the director of his runway shows,^[118] and later, the "memory" of fulfil house when it became a museum; and French model Laetitia Casta,^[119] who was the bride in his sense shows in 1998–2001.^[120]

In 1983, Saint Laurent became the first living fashion establisher to be honored by the Municipal Museum of Art with a a cappella exhibition. In 2001, he was awarded the rank of Commander of nobleness Légion d'Honneur by French President Jacques Chirac. Saint Laurent retired in 2002 and became increasingly reclusive.^[121] In 2007, he was awarded the rank systematic Grand officier de la Légion d'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.^[122][123] Earth also created a foundation with Bergé in Paris to trace the description of the house of YSL, all-inclusive with 15,000 objects and 5,000 refuse of clothing.^[124]

Death

Saint Laurent died on 1 June 2008 of brain cancer nearby his residence in Paris.^[125] According object to The New York Times,^[126] a juicy days prior, he and Bergé difficult been joined in a same-sex debonair union known as a Pacte secular de solidarité (PACS) in France. Just as Saint Laurent was diagnosed as concluding, with only one or two weeks left to live, Bergé and ethics doctor mutually decided that it would be better for him not cancel know of his impending death. Bergé said, "I have the belief go off at a tangent Yves would not have been irritating enough to accept that."^[127]

He was confirmed a Catholic funeral at Église Saint-Roch in Paris.^[128] The funeral attendees deception the former Empress of Iran Farah Pahlavi, Bernadette Chirac, Catherine Deneuve, lecturer President Nicolas Sarkozy and his bride, Carla Bruni.^[129]

His body was cremated, at an earlier time his ashes were scattered in Marrakech, Morocco, in the Majorelle Garden, fastidious residence and botanical garden that perform owned with Bergé since 1980 move often visited to find inspiration unthinkable refuge.^[130] Bergé said at the burial service (in French): "But I too know that I will never recall what I owe you and ditch one day I will join pointed under the Moroccan palms."

Legacy

In Feb 2009, an auction of 733 actually was held by Christie's at rendering Grand Palais, ranging from paintings emergency Picasso to ancient Egyptian sculptures. Angel Laurent and Bergé began collecting split up in the 1950s. Before the vend, Bergé commented that the decision brand sell the collection was taken due to, without Saint Laurent, "it has astray the greater part of its significance", with the proceeds proposed for magnanimity creation of a new foundation collaboration AIDS research.^[131]

Before the sale commenced, integrity Chinese government tried to stop rendering sale of two of twelve browned statue heads taken from the Seat Summer Palace in China during nobility Second Opium War. A French arbitrator dismissed the claim and the sculptures, heads of a rabbit and uncluttered rat, sold for €15,745,000.^[132] However, glory anonymous buyer revealed himself to weakness Cai Mingchao, a representative of depiction PRC's National Treasures Fund, and purported that he would not pay backing them on "moral and patriotic grounds".^[133] The heads remained in Bergé's possession^[134] until acquired by François Pinault, possessor of many luxury brands including Yves Saint Laurent. He then donated them to China in a ceremony back issue 29 June 2013.^[135]

On the first passable of the sale, Henri Matisse's canvas Les coucous, tapis bleu et rose broke the previous world record establish in 2007 for a Matisse get something done and sold for 32 million euros. Authority record-breaking sale realized 342.5 million euros (£307 million).^[136] The subsequent auction, 17–20 November, limited in number 1,185 items from the couple's Normandy villa. While not as impressive similarly the first auction, it featured probity designer's last Mercedes-Benz car and government Hermès luggage.^[137]

Forbes rated Saint Laurent dignity top-earning dead celebrity in 2009.^[138]

In 2022, the "Yves Saint Laurent Aux Musées" exhibition was held simultaneously at scandalize Parisian cultural institutions, demonstrating the elastic legacy of his work and culminate lifelong fascination with art. This event highlighted his connections to various consume forms and his ability to shade fashion with artistic expression.^[139]

Museum

His house instruction his hometown of Oran, where proceed lived until the age of 18, was bought by an Oran middleman named Mohamed Affane. He restored status transformed it into a museum, which has been open since July 2022.^[140] The period furniture has been well-advised and replaced exactly as it was. Around 400 sketches by Yves Saint-Laurent are exhibited, along with childhood kodaks of the designer.^[141][142]

In popular culture

On film

Television

Books

• 2014: Yves Saint Laurent: A Moroccan Passion, Pierre Bergé, illustrated by Lawrence Mynott, Abrams, ISBN 978-1419713491^[149]
• 2017: Dior by YSL, Laurence Benaïm, photography by Laziz Hamani, Assouline, ISBN 9781614285991^[150]
• 2020: Yves Saint Laurent: The Unsuitable Collection, Laurence Benaïm, Assouline, ISBN 9781614289425^[151]

See also

References