Vintage Yves Saint Laurent YSL Red Floral Smock Dress 1970's
About the Item
- Designer:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: 40 (EU)
- Style:1970s (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU456035851
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: Los Angeles, CA
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Comme Des Garcons Brown Plaid DressBy Comme des GarçonsLocated in Los Angeles, CAVintage Comme des Garcons sleeveless dress made out of various brown plaids that are pieced together in a patchwork style on the front dress panel. Circa 1...Category
1990s Japanese Aesthetic Day Dresses
- Tan Brown & Green Zig Zag Maxi DressBy Roberta Di CamerinoLocated in Los Angeles, CAVintage green, tan and brown Roberta di Camerino trompe l'oeil wool maxi dress with sleeves. Dress features signature Roberta print and gold tone "R" buttons. Roberta di Camerino arc...Category
1970s Italian Maxi Dresses
- Comme Des Garcons Rust & Black Velvet High Back Collar Dress 1996By Comme des GarçonsLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Comme des Garcons rust and black velvet dress featuring an off-white muslin collar. Autumn Winter 1996. Comme Des Garcons Size Sma...Category
1990s Japanese Day Dresses
- John Galliano Navy Slip Dress With Floral Pattern & Pink Lace TrimBy John GallianoLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is pleased to offer a vintage John Galliano navy slip dress featuring a floral print, ruffles along the front and back of the dres...Category
1990s Italian Day Dresses
- Roberto Cavalli Snake Print Halter Dress With Ombre FringeBy Roberto CavalliLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to present a vintage Roberto Cavalli earth-tone evening gown featuring an open neckline, straps, snake print, racerback with corset detail, multicolor...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- London Series Poster 1st Edition "Rose" Paper Dress by Harry Gordon, 1968By Harry GordonLocated in Los Angeles, CARare & highly collectable London Series Poster 'Rose' Dress. This dress, designed by Harry Gordon, features an image of a rose on a paper dress comprised of screen-printed tisse, woo...Category
1960s American Aesthetic Day Dresses
- Kenzo Vintage Lush Plum Brown and Gold Floral Print Dress w Gold Velvet TrimBy KenzoLocated in Portland, ORThis gorgeous vintage Kenzo dress is in an abstract floral print in rich shades of plum, soft gold, copper and brown with gold velvet trim at the c...Category
20th Century French Day Dresses
- 1960s California Olive Green Chiffon Beaded Dress with TrainLocated in London, GB1960s olive green beaded dress with train by high-end British label, California. The dress is a manmade georgette fabric, probably viscose, with a ...Category
1960s American Cocktail Dresses
- 90s Gianfranco Ferre tan knit dress with silk collarBy Gianfranco FerréLocated in Beverly Hills, CADeadstock Gianfranco Ferre knit dress with silk collar. Size: 2/ XS Bust: 32" Hip: 34" Flaws: black stains (front collar) you can easily reverse the collar (in and out) to hi...Category
1990s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Pink Floral Strapless Cocktail Dress Size 4Located in Los Angeles, CAThis cocktail dress is composed of a pink floral applique fabric with gold detailing. There is a center back zipper, features interior bustier foundation with boning. In excellent v...Category
20th Century American Cocktail Dresses
- Jean Paul Gaultier 1990's Vintage Bustier Bodycon Knit Mini DressBy Jean Paul GaultierLocated in Naples, FLJean Paul Gaultier Junior 1990's Vintage Bustier Bodycon Knit Mini Dress IT 42Category
1990s Day Dresses
- Ninivah Khomo 1990s Rare Vintage Snakeskin Print Bodycon Sexy Cotton 90s DressLocated in San Diego, CASexy snakeskin print bodcon dress from hard to find designer NINIVAH KHOMO! Manolo Blahnik praised Khomo, saying, "I was captivated by her signature anim...Category
1990s American Cocktail Dresses
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.