Celebrated French couturier Yves Saint Laurent (1936–2008) designed several epoch-making classics of womenswear. Alongside his partner Pierre Bergé, he also ranked among his era’s greatest collectors of art.
Yves Mathieu-Saint-Laurent – to give him his full name – was born in 1936 in Oran, Algeria, where he grew up. He took an interest in fashion from an early age and enjoyed creating wardrobes for paper dolls. In 1955 he moved to Paris to study at the École de la chambre syndicale de la couture parisienne. Someone introduced Saint Laurent to the editor of French Vogue, who was impressed by this prodigy with his knack for predicting trends. So the editor recommended Saint Laurent to Christian Dior, who took him on as an assistant. Dior quickly noticed his protégé’s talent and made Saint Laurent his right-hand man. On Dior’s death in 1957, Yves Saint Laurent became his successor – at the age of 21, he was the youngest creative director in the history of fashion.
He was let go in 1960 and one year later Saint Laurent founded his own fashion house with backing from his romantic partner Pierre Bergé. His collections were a runaway success, featuring emblematic designs – pea coats, trench coats, tuxedos, jumpsuits – that would become staples in the modern woman’s wardrobe. His sober, contemporary style borrowed from menswear, rewriting the codes to instill a new freedom in the way women dressed. Throughout his career, the couturier also designed sets and costumes for ballet, theater, and movies. Some of the most high-profile actresses wore Saint Laurent, like Catherine Deneuve, who was a close friend.
Saint Laurent also took a keen interest in art, drawing inspiration from the work of great painters, such as Picasso and Matisse. He even paid homage to Mondrian in a dress design. He and Pierre Bergé built up one of the world’s largest collections of paintings, antiques, sculptures, decorative objects, and furniture. When it was sold at auction in 2009, the collection realized record proceeds of over €370 million.
An elegant aesthete, Yves Saint Laurent features in many photographs wearing an impeccably cut suit, often with a Tank watch on his wrist and a Trinity ring on his little finger.
The designer retired from the fashion world in 2002 and died six years later, on June 1, 2008.
