Yves Saint Laurent

Coat (Object ID #2004.03.103) designed by Yves Saint Laurent for the House of Dior, 1960

Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008), or YSL, was one of the most influential fashion designers of the latter half of the 20th century. Born to a wealthy family in Algeria, he moved to Paris in his teens after winning a contest for young designers, and at age 19 he was hired as an assistant by Christian Dior. When Dior died in 1957, Saint Laurent became head designer for the House of Dior. He utilized softer shapes and lighter fabrics, emphasizing a more youthful aesthetic full of movement and looser gender divisions, and his collections were applauded. 

1960 was a significant year for Saint Laurent, as he was drafted into the French army, suffered a mental health crisis, received treatment which he later blamed for his subsequent mental health problems, and was replaced at Dior by Marc Bohan. The following year, with the help of his friend and lover Pierre Bergé, Saint Laurent opened his own fashion house which, after the presentation of his first collection in 1962, quickly became a success.  

Yves Saint Laurent's "Poliakoff" dress (Object ID #2008.09.74), inspired by the paintings of Serge Poliakoff

He initiated and stayed on top of trends for decades, including developing a chic beatnik look in the early 1960s, using metallic and transparent fabrics in the late 1960s, and designing peasant-inspired clothing in luxurious fabrics in the 1970s. Some of his most notable designs included tuxedo jackets for women, pea coats, trench coats, and his Mondrian collection of dresses based on artwork. His most momentous contribution to women's fashion, though, might have been popularizing trousers for women for both day and evening wear.  

In 1966 Saint Laurent launched his Rive Gauche boutique store to sell "designer ready-to-wear," thus becoming one of the first major designers to embrace ready-to-wear clothes with the same attention and creative energy as haute couture. (See below for several examples from his Rive Gauche line.) He later expanded his business to include men's clothing, fragrances, shoes, and more. While his work became more conservative later in his career, the widespread success of his early designs and their constant reinterpretation sustained his prominence. In 1983 he became the first living designer to have a retrospective of his designs exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, in honor of his impact on women's fashion.  

Saint Laurent sold his ready-to-wear lines to Gucci in 1999, and Tom Ford, Stefano Pilati, Hedi Slimane, and Anthony Vaccarello each served as creative director of the House of Saint Laurent over the years. Saint Laurent himself maintained his couture business until his retirement in 2002, and he died in 2008.