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 2008, the 72-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.
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