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1966
Courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent: Form and Fashion with editorial direction by Elsa Janssen; texts by Cécile Bargues, Serena Bucalo-Mussely, Julien Fronsacq. (Flammarion, 2023) "The 1966 'Homage to Pop Art' collection was surprising for the mastery of simple forms and bright colours that Yves Saint Laurent displayed... This daywear ensemble consists of a simple 'Trapeze' line jersey dress and two-tone jacket. Saint Laurent used a vivid colour to pick out the lines of the jacket, the yellow contrasting sharply with the black background. He cut directly into the colour of the fabric, like an abstract artist painting a canvas."
1984
This cherry-red day ensemble was worn by model Amalia Vairelli on the catwalk for the AW1984 haute couture collection, which was photographed by Claus Ohm.
1988
Courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent: Form and Fashion with editorial direction by Elsa Janssen; texts by Cécile Bargues, Serena Bucalo-Mussely, Julien Fronsacq. (Flammarion, 2023) "Inspired by cubism, 13 jackets from the AW1988 Saint Laurent 'rive gauche' collection were composed from interlocking geometric shapes cut from fabrics in contrasting colours. This example is made from a patchwork of satin cuir — a fabric that lends the garment a gloss and firmer structure — in a combination of five strong and contrasting colours: pale pink, white, black, fuchsia, and yellow. The jacket is worn with a black pencil skirt in satin cuir and accessories that serve to accentuate the silhouette: a hat fashioned from two stacked cubes in fuchsia and black, and earrings made from triangles and circles. To promote the collection in the press and other media, Naomi Campbell was photographed wearing this look by Arthur Elgort."
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1959
Courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent: Form and Fashion with editorial direction by Elsa Janssen; texts by Cécile Bargues, Serena Bucalo-Mussely, Julien Fronsacq. (Flammarion, 2023) "When Yves Saint Laurent became artistic director of the House of Dior at the age of 21, following the death of Christian Dior (1905–1957), he continued Christian Dior’s explorations of geometric cuts... The belted shape and button front of the 'Stockholm' dress in thick beige wool give it a modernist look."
1981
Courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent: Form and Fashion with editorial direction by Elsa Janssen; texts by Cécile Bargues, Serena Bucalo-Mussely, Julien Fronsacq. (Flammarion, 2023) This two-tone evening dress, worn here by Nicole Dorier, was part of the AW1981 haute couture collection, and plays on Yves Saint Laurent's love of monochrome designs during that time.
2001
Courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent: Form and Fashion with editorial direction by Elsa Janssen; texts by Cécile Bargues, Serena Bucalo-Mussely, Julien Fronsacq. (Flammarion, 2023) This navy dress from the SS2001 haute couture collection epitomises Saint Laurent's feminine sensibility; the brand's tendency towards dramatic flair is perfectly represented by the oversized fedora.
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1980
Courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent: Form and Fashion with editorial direction by Elsa Janssen; texts by Cécile Bargues, Serena Bucalo-Mussely, Julien Fronsacq. (Flammarion, 2023) The work of artist Piet Mondrian greatly influenced Yves Saint Laurent. For his AW1965 haute couture collection, he created 26 designs that payed homage to Mondrian's abstract paintings. In his SS1980 haute couture collection, seen here, "he reprised this elegant aesthetic in a skirt suit, emphasising the simplicity of the cut, the geometry of the lines, and the clarity of the primary colours".
1980
Courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent: Form and Fashion with editorial direction by Elsa Janssen; texts by Cécile Bargues, Serena Bucalo-Mussely, Julien Fronsacq. (Flammarion, 2023) "In several of the ensembles in the SS1980 Saint Laurent 'rive gauche' collection, Yves Saint Laurent chose the restraint and bold effect of black and white to play on contrasts and geometric motifs. In a spirit that was more architectural than decorative, the couturier designed a series of models that echoed the parallel aims of his haute couture creations for AW1979 and SS1980. The collection was described by Paris Vogue as "one of the most beautiful" of his ready-to-wear collections. It shows the legacy of the inspiration Saint Laurent found when he first saw Pablo Picasso’s designs for the ballet Le Tricorne in 1919. When Mounia Orosemane wore this skirt suit on the runway, she was accompanied by Moujik, Saint Laurent’s black-and-white French bulldog."
1997
Courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent: Form and Fashion with editorial direction by Elsa Janssen; texts by Cécile Bargues, Serena Bucalo-Mussely, Julien Fronsacq. (Flammarion, 2023) "The wool jersey dress is a classic of Yves Saint Laurent couture. This model, from the AW1997 Saint Laurent 'rive gauche' collection, is divided into three distinct colour blocks, turquoise for the body, red for the yoke, and blue for the skirt, while the waist is marked by a navy suede belt. Loud and sometimes startling colour combinations are inventively contained within a single outfit, which is completed by a shocking pink scarf and purple suede gloves. The collection featured four identical dresses that presented all the colours of the spectrum. This model marks the transition between warm and cool tones, between a dress in yellow, orange, and brown and another in purple and pink. The final look was in black and white, white being a mixture of every colour and black signifying their absence."
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1988
Courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent: Form and Fashion with editorial direction by Elsa Janssen; texts by Cécile Bargues, Serena Bucalo-Mussely, Julien Fronsacq. (Flammarion, 2023) Model Gurmit Kaur Campbell and Yves Saint Laurent are pictured backstage at the AW1988 Saint Laurent 'rive gauche' show, photographed by François-Marie Banier.
2023
Courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent: Form and Fashion with editorial direction by Elsa Janssen; texts by Cécile Bargues, Serena Bucalo-Mussely, Julien Fronsacq. (Flammarion, 2023) "The German artist Claudia Wieser makes a regular practice of breaking down the classic boundaries between the fine arts and craft, fashion, and design. The spaces and geometrical shapes she constructs using clean lines and interplays of colours and contrasts lend themselves particularly well to setting up a dialogue with the most radical and minimalist of Yves Saint Laurent’s creations."
Here, shoes in patent leather from the SS1979 haute couture collection and SS1983 Saint Laurent 'rive gauche' collection are arranged in a composition by Wieser for the exhibition Yves Saint Laurent: Shapes and Forms at the Musée Yves Saint Laurent in Paris.
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