Fashion icons through history: the imprint of Yves Saint Laurent

He was born in 1936 into a French family that settled in Algeria. As a child, he was already noticed by the wonderful mind of an artist, he loved the theater and painted with watercolors the clothes that appeared in his favorite films. In December 1953 he traveled to Paris for the first time to receive the third prize in the International Wool Secretariat competition. A year later he moved to the City of Light and after doubting whether to follow the fashion world or the theater, Yves followed his mother’s advice and opted for fashion.

In Paris he presented his designs to Michel de Brunhoff, who published them in his magazine. Later, on his advice, he enrolled in a haute couture school, a space he later left. The apprentice designer began rubbing shoulders with Parisian society after winning a cocktail dress sketch competition and made the jump to the drawer. House by Dior.

In 1955 he started working under the auspices of Christian Dior. According to the book Saint Laurent, bad boy “On June 20, 1955, Yves Dior comes in wearing the designers’ white coat. At a parade on July 5, 1955, she signed model No. 335: a black velvet sheath dress with a plunging neckline and a satin ribbon above the waist”, she was 18 years old at the time and had enormous potential. began showing the world thanks to the French company, which he ran after the death of his teacher, Christian Dior, in 1957.

In January 1962, he debuted his eponymous brand for the first time on the advice of his life partner, Pierre Bergé. Her legend started with showing her first blouses with bows, peacoats or the first trench coat. Her signature was described by magazines as “the cutest thing since Chanel” from the start, according to her own official biography.

Some of the garments with which YSL has left its mark were:

The safari jacket is one of the most iconic garments of the maker, it has been worked in several versions and represented in countless parades. Yves first presented it in 1967 in his ‘Bambara’ collection.

The jumpsuit also played a very important role, that union of shirt and pants violated the standards of women’s clothing.

After her travels to Morocco, she discovered the kaftan, a common dress among women of Moroccan descent. It has an opening in the front and is usually made of silky and fine fabric. This piece of clothing was very recurring in his collections because it gave him a lot of creative freedom when designing with all kinds of fabrics and colors.

The Mondrian dress was one of his star pieces, it was a modern design in the 1960s that captivated the Parisian public. He was inspired by the work of the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian.

Yves Saint Laurent pioneered in 1966 when he created the first women’s tuxedo, proving that women could also wear clothes previously considered exclusive to men.

The green feather coat marked a before and after in the industry. Criticized first and then imitated. He presented it in the Scandal collection and helped define the 1970s style.

Yves Saint Laurent left the fashion world in 2002, disappointed by the turn of the industry, where artistic ambition was clouded by lucrative ambition. After 40 years of inspiring the world, there is a trail that still shines.