YSL Rive Gauche Fall 1987 Runway Navy Sequin Mini Dress
About the Item
- Designer:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: 38 (EU)
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU3229220792842
Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche
Visionary French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent was the first to launch a ready-to-wear label, YSL Rive Gauche Prêt-à-Porter. The inaugural Rive Gauche boutique — a modern shop in Paris’s bustling, bohemian Left Bank district — offered stylish garments and accessories that were intended to be affordable for a younger generation of fashion enthusiasts. The store featured Mies van der Rohe chairs and played host to actor Catherine Deneuve during its grand opening.
Saint Laurent pioneered “cross-design” in fashion, taking inspiration from street trends to modernize haute couture. He was the first couturier to open boutiques for both men and women. Using traditional menswear fabrics and designs for women, he also literally cross-dressed, giving men and women alike chic pant suits, elegant tuxedo jackets and urban safari gear. By blurring gender-specific design, he 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 — Rive Gauche is French for “left bank” — followed soon thereafter by YSL Rive Gauche for men. Ready-to-wear materialized during a period of dynamic transformation and experimentation and came to dominate the Paris fashion scene. 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.
The vintage YSL Rive Gauche clothing for sale on 1stDibs includes evening dresses and gowns, jackets, shoes, handbags and other items.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Jean Paul Gaultier Fall 1995 Black Velvet Dress with Front ZippersBy Jean Paul GaultierLocated in New York, NYJean Paul Gaultier Fall 1995 Black Velvet Dress with Front ZippersThis fabulous dress belongs to the Jean Paul Gaultier fall collection of 1995. This show is everything Gaultier envisioned for the future of fashion. The show marked Gaultier’s “cyber...Category
1990s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Fendi by Karl Lagerfeld Black Blazer Dress with EmbellishmentsBy Karl Lagerfeld for FendiLocated in New York, NYFendi by Karl Lagerfeld Black Blazer Dress with Embellishments. Lagerfeld's time at Fendi is forever revered; his innovation left an indelible mark. This classic & sophisticated blaz...Category
1980s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Chloé by Karl Lagerfeld Blue Long Sleeve Dress With Multi Color SequinBy ChloéLocated in New York, NYChloè by Karl Lagerfeld Blue Long Sleeve Dress With Multi Color Sequin. This dress is a sophisticated and elegant piece in a rich blue hue, with...Category
1990s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Carolina Herrera 1980s Black Sequin Gown (Original Sample)By Carolina HerreraLocated in New York, NYThis Carolina Herrera 1980s gown is a true embodiment of extravagance and glamour. Caroline Herrara's designs carry the essence of elegance and luxury, making it onto various First L...Category
1980s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Oleg Cassini Black Embellished Cocktail DressBy Oleg CassiniLocated in New York, NYOleg Cassini Black Embellished Cocktail Dress. Most known for his bridal and evening wear, Oleg Cassini humbly began his career selling his designs out of his mothers dress shop in F...Category
1950s Cocktail Dresses
- Christian Dior 1980's Black Velvet Dress With Pink BottomBy Christian DiorLocated in New York, NYChristian Dior 1980's Black Velvet Dress with Pink Bottom. This dress is a step back into the 80s through its perfectly nostolgic design. Combined ...Category
1980s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Roland Klein black strapless dress with black and white striped trainBy Roland KleinLocated in Austin, TX1980s Roland Klein black strapless dress with black and white train. Acetate fabric. 34" bust, 26" waist, 40" hips, 48" front length - 54 1/2" ba...Category
1980s British Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Long asymmetrical evening dress with sequin embroideries and tulle Gai MattioloBy Gai MattioloLocated in Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, FRLong asymmetrical evening dress with sequin embroideries and tulle ajouré. NEW with tag. Zip on the left side. Shorter in the front than in the back. Fabric composition: 56% rayon, 4...Category
Early 2000s Italian Evening Dresses
- UNWORN Gucci by Tom Ford FW 2004 Black Silk & Tassle Evening Gown Dress 40By Tom Ford for Gucci, GucciLocated in Switzerland, CHRARE COLLECTOR'S ITEM STUNNING PIECE BY TOM FORD FOR HIS FINAL COLLECTION IN FALL 2004 FOR GUCCI Seen on the runway show, in the AD campaign and in many editorials One of the key...Category
Early 2000s Italian Evening Gowns
- Vintage Tom Ford for Gucci F/W 1996 Black Jersey Dress Gown w Pony Hair Belt 42By Tom Ford for GucciLocated in Montgomery, TXVintage Runway Tom Ford for Gucci Black Jersey Dress Gown F/W 1996 Collection Designer size - 42 Black Jersey, Fully Lined, Slip-on Style. Black Pony Hair Belt...Category
1990s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- 1970s Vintage fluid black dress in sheer jerseyLocated in Milano, ITFluid black dress in sheer jersey with lurex copper profiles and belt. Deep V neckline. Wide shoulder straps. Size IT:40 Size USA: 6 Waist: 66 cm Length: 152 cm Bust: 80 cmCategory
1970s American Evening Dresses
- Iconic Tom Ford for Gucci SS 2003 Japanese Cherry Blossoms Mini Stretch Dress SBy Tom Ford for GucciLocated in Montgomery, TXIconic Tom Ford for Gucci Japanese Cherry Blossoms Mini Stretch Dress S/S 2003 Runway Collection Designer size - S Measurements: Length - 37", Bust - ...Category
Early 2000s Italian Cocktail Dresses