Yves St Laurent (Aug 1, 1936 - June 1, 2008)
June 28, 2008 · Print This Article
Considered by the Daily Telegraph as ‘one of the greatest figures in French fashion in the 20th century’ Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint Laurent was born August 1, 1936 and died June 1, 2008.
The son of an insurance company president, Yves Saint Laurent was born in Oran, Algeria. He studied first at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture, but left after a few months. Saint Laurent left home at the age of 17 to work for the French designer Christian Dior. Following Dior’s death in 1957, Yves, at the age of 21, was put in charge of the effort of saving the Dior house from financial ruin. His work for the 1958 Dior collection earned him international acclaim for his work that would come to be known as the trapeze dress, which would be integral to fashion during the 1960s.
Shortly after this success, he was conscripted to serve in the French Army. After just 20 days, Saint Laurent was institutionalized in a French mental hospital, where he underwent psychiatric treatment for a nervous breakdown.
In 1962, YSL left Dior and started his own fashion house with his lover Pierre Berge, from whom he split in 1976, but remained partners in the business. During the 1960s and 1970s, the firm popularized fashion trends which mainstreamed the idea of wearing silhouettes from the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s. He was the first, in 1966, to popularize ready-to-wear in an attempt to democratize fashion and was also the first designer to use black models in his fashion shows.
In 1983, Saint Laurent became the first living fashion designer to be honored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a solo exhibition. In 2001, he was awarded the rank of Commander of the Légion d’Honneur by French president Jacques Chirac. He retired in 2002 and became increasingly reclusive.
He also created a foundation with long time partner Pierre Bergé in Paris to trace the history of the house of YSL, complete with 15,000 objects and 5,000 pieces of clothing.
On June 1, 2008, Yves St Laurent died from the effects of brain cancer at his residence in Paris. YSL’s body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered in Marrakech, Morocco in a botanical garden that he often visited to find influence and refuge.
According to The New York Times, a few days before he died, Saint Laurent and Bergé were joined in a same-sex civil union in France. Bergé said during the funeral service: “I also know that I will never forget what I owe you, and that one day I will join you under the Moroccan palms.”
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