(Betty Catroux, Loulou de la Falaise, Catherine Deneuve) Yves Saint Laurent had several muses throughout his career, but it was Catherine Deneuve he returned to most often — the cool, luminous embodiment of his refined, cinematic femininity. Betty Catroux Yet another essential muse was Betty Catroux, the nocturnal rebel who became his “twin soul.” With herContinue reading “YSL’s Muses”
Tag Archives: YSL
The Moment YSL Learned Dior Had Died
“The News That Changed Everything” Paris, October 1957 The morning light was pale when the knock came at Yves Saint Laurent’s door. He had been sketching late into the night, as he often did, papers scattered across the floor like fallen leaves. Pierre Bergé opened the door before Yves could rise. It was an assistantContinue reading “The Moment YSL Learned Dior Had Died”
Yves Saint Laurent: The Designer Who Made Ready‑to‑Wear Revolutionary
Fashion changed forever. The day Yves Saint Laurent introduced luxury ready-to-wear to the world. Before Yves Saint Laurent, fashion lived in couture salons, in private fittings, in the world of ladies who could afford to have clothes made just for them. Couture was art, but it was also exclusion: beauty reserved for the few. luxury ready‑to‑wearContinue reading “Yves Saint Laurent: The Designer Who Made Ready‑to‑Wear Revolutionary”
The night Yves Saint Laurent Shocked Paris, and Re-wrote the Rules of Fashion w/ His 1971 Scandal Collection
On January 29, 1971, little did Yves Saint Laurent knew, he would be walking into the history books — and at the exact same time, straight into a firestorm. His Spring/Summer haute couture show, later known simply as “The Scandal Collection,” was unlike anything Paris had ever seen. It wasn’t elegant. It wasn’t polite. ItContinue reading “The night Yves Saint Laurent Shocked Paris, and Re-wrote the Rules of Fashion w/ His 1971 Scandal Collection”
House of Dior Fires Yves Saint Laurent: The Scandal That Shook Paris Fashion (Part One)
Imagine going to bed in Paris, knowing or at the very least thinking everything was right in the world, in Paris, in fashion, only to wake up to startling news. It was the kind of headline that didn’t nor should it belong in the world of couture — a world built on elegance and carefullyContinue reading “House of Dior Fires Yves Saint Laurent: The Scandal That Shook Paris Fashion (Part One)”
The Women Who Inspired the Scandal Collection
This isn’t Dior’s New Look — however the Parisian women preferred to forget. While the majority of designers in 1971 romanticized the past, Dior’s nipped waists, Balenciaga’s sculptural purity, the soft nostalgia of the 1950s — YSL chose to do the opposite. He reached back to the darkest most un-comfortable corner of French memory: occupied ParisContinue reading “The Women Who Inspired the Scandal Collection”
