Yves Saint Laurent Black Wool Felt Wide Brim Hat
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2473177703
Yves Saint Laurent
French designer Yves Saint Laurent pioneered “cross-design” in fashion, taking inspiration from street trends to modernize haute couture.
Saint Laurent was the first to launch a ready-to-wear label, YSL Rive Gauche Prêt-à-Porter. He was the first couturier to open boutiques for both men and women. Using traditional menswear fabrics and designs for women, Saint Laurent also literally cross-dressed, giving men and women alike chic pant suits, elegant tuxedo jackets and urban safari gear.
By blurring gender-specific design, Saint Laurent empowered individual style while creating a scissor-sharp fashion aesthetic of sensual ease and beauty. Many of his designs are today considered timeless classics. Saint Laurent also consistently used Black models, like Mounia, Iman and Naomi Campbell, and he drew endless inspiration from different ethnicities and cultures, in no small part because of his Algerian roots.
Born to French parents in Oran, Algeria, in 1936, Saint Laurent went to Paris at age 17 to study fashion at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Just two years later, in 1955, his remarkable sketches were shown to Christian Dior, then the world’s reigning couturier, who hired him immediately.
Surprisingly soon thereafter, Dior publicly chose Saint Laurent as his successor, which sadly proved prescient when the fashion legend died unexpectedly, in 1957. A mere slip of a youth, the 21-year-old Saint Laurent was nevertheless up to the challenge. He shook the traditional couture clientele to its core with youthful silhouettes and styles like the A-line trapeze dress that hung with seeming effortlessness from the shoulders, the antithesis of the pinched waists and molded skirts that had been all the rage after the deprivations of World War II.
After a mandated spell in the torturous French military, Saint Laurent suffered a nervous breakdown and was dismissed by Dior in 1962. Out of the ashes rose the Age of Yves. With Pierre Bergé, his then-lover who became his lifelong business partner and friend, the designer founded Yves Saint Laurent YSL to encompass prêt-à-porter, or ready-to-wear. In 1966, they opened the first YSL Rive Gauche women’s boutique in Paris, followed soon thereafter by YSL Rive Gauche for men. Saint Laurent had given birth to a global brand.
His revolutionary Mondrian mini dress from 1965 is a core element of his fashion biography. It is a prime example of how Saint Laurent, an avid art lover and collector, looked to painters, from Goya to Picasso, Ingres to Matisse, for inspiration.
With its pure lines and hues, Mondrian’s ground-breaking 1935 color-block painting Composition C transmutes beautifully into a dress that is highly valued by collectors of contemporary fashion and widely copied commercially to this day. The design is the epitome of Saint Laurent’s aesthetic, requiring a meticulous hand-piecing of each color block so that, despite the body’s curves, the visual plane is as flat as a canvas when the garment is worn. Mondrian’s purity met its match in Saint Laurent.
“I am no longer concerned with sensation and innovation, but with the perfection of my style,” Saint Laurent said four years before retiring, in 2002. After a long period of ill health, he died at his home in Paris on June 1, 2008.
Browse an extraordinary collection of vintage Yves Saint Laurent evening dresses, shirts, handbags and other clothing and accessories today on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Halston Coco Brown Mongolian Lamb HatBy HalstonLocated in New York, NYThis Very rare Vintage Halston Mongolian lamb in coco-brown is so fun to wear and at the same time will keep you warm during those cold months ahe...Category
1970s American Hats
- Henig Furs Natural Ranch Black Fox Wide-Brim Fur HatLocated in New York, NYHenig Furs wonderfully elegant wide brim natural ranch black fox fur hat measures 25" in circumference. The outer brim measures 47" in circumferenc...Category
1990s Canadian Hats
- Commes des Garcon Black Wool FedoraBy Comme des GarçonsLocated in New York, NYCommes des Garcon black woll fedora measures 22 1/2" interior, exterior rim measures 33", size large.Category
1990s French Hats
- Mr. John Golden brown felted hatBy Mr. JohnLocated in New York, NYMr. John felted hat is in a warm-golden brown hue. The body is crafted in Italy. There's a ribbon and embroidered "arrow" detailing bordered with metallic gold threading. The circumf...Category
1970s Italian Hats
- Christian Dior "Boutique" Woven Beige "Newsboy" CapBy Christian DiorLocated in New York, NYChristian Dior "Boutique" fully-lined woven beige "Newsboy" cap measures 23" in circumference on the interior. Fully-lined and accented with a 1" ribbon...Category
Early 2000s French Hats
- Silk Chiffon with Metallic Gold "Gold Coins" Evening Pull-Over HoodLocated in New York, NYThis wonderfully elegant silk chiffon with metallic gold threads "Gold Coins" evening pull-over hood can be worn as a elegant scarf during cocktails, then before getting into your ca...Category
1980s French Hats
- Chanel Black Quilted Coco Neige Trapper Hat MBy ChanelLocated in Dubai, Al Qouz 2Chanel offers a fashionable addition to your style repertoire with this coco neige trapper hat. It is covered in the diamond quilt and finished with a signature patch on the front.Category
2010s Italian Hats
- Dior Galliano Dior Trotter Charms Monogram Oblique Bucket Hat Diorissimo 57By Christian Dior, John Galliano for Christian DiorLocated in Алматинский Почтамт, KZDior Galliano Dior Trotter Charms Monogram Oblique Bucket Hat Diorissimo 57 Christian Dior bucket hat in the designer's most recognizable pri...Category
Early 2000s French Hats
- 1940s Black Toy Hat with Flowers and Feathered BirdsLocated in San Francisco, CA1940s black beaver fur felt toy hat decorated with handmade linen flowers, oil cloth leaves, and white feathers birds on each side. The interior has a sec...Category
1940s Hats
- 1960s I. Magnin Black Silk Fashion Pillbox HatBy I. MagninLocated in San Francisco, CA1960 black silk fashion pillbox hat with hand sculpted enlarged bow finished with a rhinestone accent.Category
1960s Hats
- 1930s Art Deco Rust Soutache Skull Cap with Black TasselsLocated in San Francisco, CA1930s Art Deco rust-colored intricate soutache skull cap with black buttons and tasselsCategory
1930s Hats
- 1940s Black Velvet Cocktail Hat with Veil and Colored FeathersLocated in San Francisco, CA194s black silk velvet cocktail hat with handmade decorative loops adorning the back of the head. The top is decorated with multi-colored feathers and front has a veil accented with ...Category
1940s Hats
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
How to Spot a Fake YSL Bag
Counterfeiters know that savvy fashionistas cherish YSL bags. Learn how to tell if yours is the real deal. Of course, you don't have to worry about that on 1stDibs, where every seller is highly vetted.
Quiet Luxury May Be Trending, but These Famous Interiors Prove That Quality and Quirk Endure
Because truly timeless design requires personal vision, transcendent taste, real fortitude and top-notch objects, even if the wider world hasn’t caught on yet.