Yves Saint Laurent revolutionized the fashion scene with his collections and gave the female sex a new expression. Here we show you everything there is to know about YSL.
The first steps
Born in Algeria, Yves (Henri Donat Mathieu) Saint-Laurent grows up well protected and with a close bond to his mother. He is a quiet child, his shyness and feminine appearance with a penchant for drawing quickly make him an outsider and a victim of bullying at school. Anxiety becomes his constant companion, school unbearable and fashion his only escape.
With the help of his mother, the doors to the fashion world open for Yves: she knows the important people in the fashion scene. First and foremost: the editor-in-chief of French Vogue, who makes him the most sought-after designer in France…
The career
In 1952, the slight young Yves became Christian Dior’s assistant, published his first collections in his fashion house in Paris and finally became his successor three years later. Saint Laurent’s designs are looser and more aggressive and show the world a new form of haute couture: broad shoulders and the absence of wasp waists. Dresses get shorter, YSL’s name gets bigger – Yves Saint Laurent becomes the talk of the fashion world.
His new phase of life includes wild parties, heaps of photographers and collaborations with models such as Naomi Campbell, Carla Bruni and Loulou De La Falais. However, being the center of attention is anything but desirable for the fashion designer. His partner at the time, Pierre Bergé, describes Yves’ behavior as follows: “I always tried to bring him into the world, but Yves wanted to stay away from it.”
1960: Algeria has been at war with the colonial power France since 1955 and YSL is called up for military service. Life in the barracks quickly gets to him, and after just 19 days his service ends – he collapses and ends up in a psychiatric institution in France. The treatment? Electric shocks and substances that accompanied Saint Laurent’s life from then on: high doses of sedatives and opium. After a long discussion with the state, Bergé finally got him out of the institution.
On your own two feet
Drug addiction, anxiety and dismissal from Dior: Saint Laurent’s return to Paris fails. Yves and Pierre decide to stand on their own two feet and found their own fashion house, Yves Saint Laurent, at the end of the 1950s. In 1966, they launched the first prêt-à-porter fashion on the market with “Rive Gauche” – a huge success.
The two men experience flights of fancy and wealth, only Yves’ health begins to break down: “He drinks whisky, vodka and smokes incessantly,” Bergé comments on his behavior. To be more precise: he hashes, smokes pot and smokes around 150 cigarettes a day and pours himself everything that is fashionable at the moment.
The final steps
Sleepless nights and a lot of work can no longer be hidden, nervous breakdowns and psychotherapy are the result. In 1990, Saint Laurent’s partner sent him on a detox program.
“I wrestled with my fears and went through hell. The struggle for elegance and beauty has made me suffer,” says the fashion designer in his farewell speech, withdrawing from the public eye in 2002 and never drawing again from then on.
Tom Ford, Stefano Pilati and Hedi Slimane will be his successors, and in 2019 Anthony Vaccarello will be the head designer at Saint Laurent.
On June 1, 2009, Yves Saint Laurent died of a brain tumor at the age of 71 after a long illness. The silent revolutionary bequeathed 5,000 haute couture dresses and more than 15,000 accessories to the “Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent”.
Above all, however, a new image of the female sex remains, which Pierre Bergé describes as follows: “Coco Chanel gave women freedom, Yves Saint Laurent gave them power.”
