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Au revoir, Yves Saint Laurent

A personal farewell from our Style Director

Posted: 04 June 2008, 10:06

By Adrian Clark, ShortList – Style Director

Yves Saint Laurent, one of the greatest and most celebrated fashion designers of the 20th Century, died on Sunday June 1st, at his home in Paris, following a long and drawn out illness, at the age of 71.  He was described by his former lover and business partner, Pierre Berge, as a ‘true creator’ who had ‘empowered women’.

Saint Laurent, while being most recognised for his establishment-challenging approach to haute couture, was in my mind one of the godfather’s that is known today as ready-to-wear or ‘off-the peg’ high fashion. Before opening his own fashion house, in 1962, European women were divided between the privileged few who could afford haute couture (made to measure fashion from Paris) led by Christian Dior (whom Saint Laurent assisted from 1954) and Coco Chanel, and the masses whose only option was to buy what we know today as high-street fashion. There was little to satisfy the ‘nouveau riche’ – those inbetween - a market that was rapidly expanding. Along with fellow French contemporaries, Courreges and Pierre Cardin, Saint Laurent created ready-to-wear (what we see today on the catwalks of Paris and Milan) that was affordable and fashionable without the restricting exclusivity of ‘one-off’ design.

Seen as a rebellious factor, fighting against the polite rules of Paris Haute Couture, Saint Laurent was initially shunned by the conservative and established fashion press, such as Vogue, but was instead championed by a new breed of liberating women’s titles, such as the then provocative and underground style mag ‘Elle’.

During his glittering career, which lasted until 2002 when he bowed out with a valedictory fashion show that featured his work throughout the decades, Saint Laurent challenged the use of colour, often clashing poppy red with citrus orange, emerald green with peacock blue or canary yellow with carnation pink. He originated the trend for women to wear men’s tuxedos (known generically as ‘le smoking’) and introduced chic hybrids of both the safari jacket and the blue jean to a class of women who would never have worn such a thing in their original incarnations. He was famously quoted as once saying: “All a woman needs to look stylish is “a pair of trousers a sweater and a raincoat.”

An example of 'le smoking'

Worn by legendary trend-setters such as Mick and Bianca Jagger, Catherine Deneuve, Paloma Picasso, Peter Sellers, Serge Gainsbourg and David Bowie, Yves’s influence on menswear was also groundbreaking.

Selling his house for £45m in 1999 to the Gucci Group, who will continue to keep the legendary name alive, there are very few names in international fashion left alive today that will leave such a void as the departure of this Algerian-born designer.

20 years ago, two days out of college and enduring my nervous introduction into fashion journalism - reporting freelance from the Paris Couture shows for The Independent newspaper - I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Monsieur Saint Laurent; a moment I will never forget.

As a student, YSL had meant everything to me - I believed in everything he stood for, his groundbreaking and rebellious approach to fashion without forsaking good taste and inimitable style. After his salon show, which was met with a standing ovation and not a dry-eye in the house, I was taken back stage to meet him. I can brush up well, and was wearing a Gaultier pinstripe suit, shirt and tie (Gaultier incidentally counts YSL as the most important influence of any designer on his own style) and had polished my shoes that morning. “An amazing show” I stuttered. “Thank you, is it your first?” he replied. How did he know that? “Yes” I replied. “I could guess,” he said, looking me up and down, “The ones that have been doing it for years stop making the effort.” He gave me a cheeky grin and then went back to what he was doing.

When it comes to my favourite designer of all time, it’s a tough call between Saint Laurent, Chanel and Azzedine Alaia (depending on my mood, and time in my life), but for sheer experimental and groundbreaking impact the crown has to go to YSL.

A message from YSL:

Please be informed that as a tribute to Monsieur Yves Saint Laurent on Thursday, June 5th, the date of his funeral, all YSL stores will be closed for the duration of the ceremony. The London Sloane and Bond street stores will therefore be closed between 2:30pm and 4:30pm.

Yves Saint Laurent with Catherine Deneuve

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