Saint Laurent had given birth to a global brand. It is a prime example of how Saint Laurent, an avid art lover and collector, looked to painters, from Goya to Picasso , Ingres to Matisse , for inspiration. Saint Laurent consistently used Black models, like Mounia, Iman and Naomi Campbell, and he drew endless inspiration from different ethnicities and cultures, in no small part because of his Algerian roots.
This picture is not shown. Appearing in its stead is the more subtly provocative photo of model Jean Shrimpton by David Bailey from the same year. You can visualize the designer shrugging the subject off. At his best, like any artist, he used his nervous energy to feed his fertile imagination with all that inspired him. Creation gave him momentary peace, his confidence unassailable.
Entirely hand embroidered by Lesage on yards of ribbon, it took hours, , sequins in 22 colors and , pearls to make. After a long period of ill health, he died at his home in Paris on June 1, He was It would indeed seem impossible that one man could consistently create such radical beauty, but seeing is believing!
With hindsight, his youthful proposal to free fashion from style rules can be seen as a promise, one that he kept. Saint Laurent gave each and every individual the right to express and own their uniqueness. As he said back in , it is how we live now. Breaking family tradition turned out for the best for this now institution in the luxury headwear and handbag world.
No more stories to load; check out The Study. Pin Share Tweet Email. Overhead shot of Saint Laurent wearing a blue caftan while reclining in his leafy Moroccan garden strewn with rugs and pillows. Photo by Horst P. Lips print dress, , offered by Rachel Zabar Vintage. He grew up in a villa by the Mediterranean with his two younger sisters, Michelle and Brigitte.
While his family was relatively well off — his father was a lawyer and insurance broker who owned a chain of cinemas — childhood for the future fashion icon was not easy.
Saint Laurent was not popular in school, and was often bullied by schoolmates for appearing to be homosexual. As a consequence, Saint Laurent was a nervous child, and sick nearly every day. He found solace, however, in the world of fashion. He liked to create intricate paper dolls, and by his early teen years he was designing dresses for his mother and sisters.
At the age of 17, a whole new world opened up to Saint Laurent when his mother took him to Paris for a meeting she'd arranged with Michael de Brunhoff, the editor of French Vogue.
A year later, Saint Laurent, who had impressed de Brunhoff with his drawings, moved to Paris and enrolled at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture, where his designs quickly gained notice. He taught me the basis of my art. Whatever was to happen next, I never forgot the years I spent at his side. In Saint Laurent was called back to his home country of Algeria to fight for its independence.
He managed to secure an exemption based on health grounds, but when he returned to Paris, Saint Laurent found that his job with Dior had disappeared. The news, at first, was traumatic for the young, fragile designer. The money and the freedom soon presented Saint Laurent with a unique opportunity. In cooperation with his partner and lover, Pierre Berge, the designer resolved to open his own fashion house. With the rise of pop culture and a general yearning for original, fresh designs, Saint Laurent's timing couldn't have been better.
Over the next two decades, Saint Laurent's designs sat atop the fashion world. Models and actresses gushed over his creations. He outfitted women in blazers and smoking jackets, and introduced attire like the pea coat to the runway. His signature pieces also included the sheer blouse and the jumpsuit. By the s, Saint Laurent was a true icon. He became the first designer to have a retrospective on his work at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.
Under the direction of Berge, who continued to manage Saint Laurent's firm even though the two had broken up in , the fashion house flourished as a money making venture. But Saint Laurent struggled. He became reclusive, and fought addictions to alcohol and cocaine.
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