“The most beautiful clothes that can dress a woman are the arms of the man she loves.But for those who
haven't had the fortune of finding this happiness, I am there” -YSL-
haven't had the fortune of finding this happiness, I am there” -YSL-
Today marks the 6th anniversary of the death of Yves Saint Laurent, one of the Greatest Designers and Innovators of our Century.
The first in many fields, he was the first to introduce non white Caucasian Models to the Runaway, a move frowned upon at the time and bitterly criticised in many circles.
"Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it" -YSL-
Amongst his Muses, Iman,the Somalian Goddess that he always described as "My Dream Woman" Katiucha Niane, Betty Catroux, Laetitia Casta, Nicole Dorier and many more, Blacks, Whites, Arabs, Creoles,Yves , a real renaissance man, never saw colour, all he could see was beauty.
He was after all, an "Apatride", a global Gypsy, stateless, if not by lack of a citizenship but by way of birthright.
The first Couturier in 1966 to present a full Pret-A-Porter collection in his store on the 6th arrondissement and legend has it that the first costumer to walk through it's door was Caterine Denevue, one of his many Muses.
With the introduction of The Safari Jacket and "Le Tuxedo", he became the first to have women wear tailor made Tuxedos and garments up to now exclusively tailored for men, and through his love for art he was a pioneer in crafting Beautiful Haute Couture masterpieces drawing inspiration from Art and Ethnic Cultures.
"The most consistently celebrated and influential designer of the past twenty-five years, Yves Saint Laurent can be credited with both spurring the couture's rise from its sixties ashes and with finally rendering ready-to-wear reputable."
-Caroline Rennolds Milbank-
With the introduction of The Safari Jacket and "Le Tuxedo", he became the first to have women wear tailor made Tuxedos and garments up to now exclusively tailored for men, and through his love for art he was a pioneer in crafting Beautiful Haute Couture masterpieces drawing inspiration from Art and Ethnic Cultures.
"The most consistently celebrated and influential designer of the past twenty-five years, Yves Saint Laurent can be credited with both spurring the couture's rise from its sixties ashes and with finally rendering ready-to-wear reputable."
-Caroline Rennolds Milbank-
Ironically he was also Born on a first day of a Month, 1st of August 1936 and died on another first day, the 1st of June 2004, it seems that the stars conjured to embed the number one in his life for good and for worse.
His Biography reads like a recount of a Dream.
He grew up in French Algeria on a beautiful villa by the Mediterranean, at 18 he moved to Paris and in no time he caught the attention of the then Editor in Chief of Vogue, Michael De Brunhoff that in turn introduced him to non other than Christian Dior that ended up becoming his mentor and naming him his successor. At 21, following the untimely death of Dior, he found himself at the head of the House Of Dior.
"I couldn't speak in front of him. He taught me the basis of my art. Whatever was to happen next, I never forgot the years I spent by his side" -YSL-
Like the lives of many a genius, his life was plagued by madness and excesses, Cocaine, alcohol, depression.
He alternated great highs and achievements with monstrous lows in which he would retire and segregate in is House in Morocco or his property in Normandy.
In his lifetime he was awarded the highest of honours. In 2007 he was awarded the rank of Grand Officier De La Legion D'Honneur, in 1983 he was the first living Couturier to have a solo Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
All along the way, always by his side, intermittently as a friend, a lover, a business partner, Pierre Berge', the partner of a Life, the man he would end up marring in a civil union just few days before succumbing to brain cancer.
