Yves
Saint Laurent was best known as an influential European fashion
designer who impacted fashion in the 1960s to the present day.
Yves
Henri Donat Matthieu Saint Laurent was born on August 1, 1936, in
Oran, Algeria, to Charles and Lucienne Andrée Mathieu-Saint-Laurent. 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. De Brunhoff also
introduced Saint Laurent to designer Christian Dior, a giant in the
fashion world.
"Dior fascinated me," Saint Laurent later recalled. "I
couldn't speak in front of him. He taught me the basis of my art.
Whatever was to happen next, I never forgot the years I spent at his
side." Under Dior's tutelage, Saint Laurent's style continued to mature
and gain still more notice.
In
1960 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. Then it became ugly, with Saint Laurent
successfully suing his former mentor for breach of contract, and
collecting £48,000.
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 1980s, Yves 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 1986, the
fashion house flourished as a money making venture.
But Saint
Laurent struggled. He became reclusive, and fought addictions to alcohol
and cocaine. Some in the fashion world complained that the designer's
work had grown stale.
In the early 1990s, Saint Laurent found
firmer footing. His designs were rediscovered by a fashion elite that
had grown tired of the grunge movement that dominated the runways. Saint
Laurent, too, seemed to have conquered his demons. By the end of the
decade, with Saint Laurent slowing down his work pace, he and Berge had
sold the company they'd started, netting the two men a fortune.
In
January 2002, Saint Laurent participated in his final show and then
retired for good in Marrakech. Five years later, Saint Laurent's imprint
and importance on French culture was cemented when he was appointed
Grand Officer of the Legion d'honnerur by French President, Nicolas
Sarkozy.Yves Saint Laurent passed away in Paris on June 1, 2008 after a brief illness.
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