I'm sad this morning. Yves Saint Laurent died this morning.
For my birthday in 2003, my mother offers me
a children book, with drawings of Yves Saint Laurent,
called La vilaine Lulu the story of a rich spoiled girl
making fun and beeing crual with the people around her(1967).
YSL had already retired.
I heard that one of the hairdresser i knew was working for him.
I ask him if he could have my book signed by Saint Laurent.
He was sick and lonely at this time.
When i open the book, i saw his trembling signature.
I cherish this book and i never asked a signature in my life.
The sweet man is gone after a long illness today in Paris at home.
Yves Saint Laurent retired in 2002 at the age of 65 and
close his Haute couture house found 40 years earlier.
This was the end of an era in the fashion world.
Gucci bought rive Gauche label in 1999 - the time had changed now fashion was belonging
to multinational fashion groups and LVMH was buying all the new designer brands.
The era that ended was when fashion means small production, single located fashion house.
It was not only a time about selling and marketing - It was a time about improving the creating every year,
about making clothes for women and not beeing a famous stylist.
Industry insiders cited friction between Saint Laurent and Gucci's creative director,
Tom Ford, as a likely factor in the fashion guru's decision to retire three years later.
Ford stepped down in 2003.
Saint Laurent spoke of his battles with depression,
drugs and loneliness, though he gave no indication
that those problems were directly tied to his decision to stop working.
Pierre Berge sayed that Saint Laurent was born with a nervous breakdown.
Saint Laurent was born Aug. 1, 1936, in Oran, Algeria.
He enrolled at the Chambre Syndicale school of haute couture in 1954 ,
but student life lasted only three months. He was introduced to Christian Dior,
then regarded as the greatest creator of his day, and Dior was so impressed
with Saint Laurent's talent that he hired him on the spot.
Dior died in 1957, Saint Laurent was named head of the House of Dior at the age of 21.
In 1962, he open his first Haute Couture house with his lover and
partner Pierre Bergé and few years later, Rive Gauche ready-to-wear shops.
Yves Saint-Laurent started designing costumes for films.
In 1966 Saint-Laurent was hired to design the wardrobe for
Catherine Deneuve in Buñuel’s Belle de Jour.
Deneuve and Yves Saint-Laurent developed a lifelong friendship on the set of the film.
If you can afford it, you can find some YSL at Rare vintage in NY
and in Paris, at Didier Ludot in the Palais Royal.
The YSL "smoking" or tuxedo jacket 1966, his blouse
and the safari dress are the trademark of his work.
You can read all the Saint Laurent Story on YSL-Pierre Bergé Fondation website.
The name of this YSL foundation exposition is a good way to end: Smoking Forever !
