Vintage Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Wrap Over Skirt
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Length: 29 in (73.66 cm)Marked Size: 234 (EU)Waist: 28 in (71.12 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU44237535691
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: London, United Kingdom
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- Wonderful Vintage Petticoat /SkirtLocated in London, GBA wonderful vintage petticoat /underskirt , or could be worn as a skirt on its own. The skirt is flatteringly flat to the hips , and then has rows o...Category
1980s Underskirts
- Vintage Yves Saint Laurent White Cotton SkirtBy Yves Saint LaurentLocated in London, GBA wonderful white skirt for Fall, by Yves Saint Laurent, variation line. The skirt is in a thick white cotton, and has a wide waistband, zip opening on the left hand side and a pocke...Category
1980s French Skirts
- Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche White and Black SkirtBy Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheLocated in London, GBA fun skirt for Fall by Yves Saint Laurent. The skirt is in a white linen mix with a button through front and frill at the hem. It has a five button opening with velvet covered butto...Category
Early 2000s French Skirts
- Colourful Silk Skirt by Duro OlowaLocated in London, GBA wonderful skirt for Summer by Duro Olowa. The silk chiffon skirt is in a great mix of colours and has an elasticated waist and is fully lined. Size 36 waist 22 -27'' , length 32''Category
2010s British Skirts
- Vintage Ghost SkirtBy GhostLocated in London, GBA full and pretty vintage skirt by Ghost.The skirt is in a mix of stripe, floral and cream with embroidery. Measurements Waist 24'', length 44''Category
1970s British Skirts
- Vintage Emmanuel Net SkirtLocated in London, GBA wonderful net skirt by Emmanuel ( designers of Princess Diana wedding dress). The skirt has a satin waist band and tie ribbon fastening. It is made of se...Category
1980s British Skirts
- S/S 2002 Yves Saint Laurent by Tom Ford Safari Gazelle Print Silk SkirtBy Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent, Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a stunning printed silk maxi skirt designed by Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche's Spring/Summer 2002 collection. This print was featured in the season's ad camp...Category
Early 2000s French Flare Skirts
- Vintage Gianni Versace Couture S/S 2002 Nude Eyelet Pencil Skirt It 38 - US 4By Gianni Versace CoutureLocated in Montgomery, TXVintage Gianni Versace Couture Nude Eyelet Pencil Skirt S/S 2002 Collection Italian 38 ( US 4 ) Nude Eyelet 100% Cotton, Unlined, Side zip. Measurements: Waist 29 inches, hips 35"- ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Pencil Skirts
- Ted Lapidus Brocade Skirt, Size 36FRBy Ted LapidusLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRTed Lapidus - Pleated skirt composed of iridescent gold brocade, together with a tulles and silk taffeta petticoat. No size tag, it fits a size 36FR. Additional information: Dimens...Category
1990s French Ruffled Skirts
- Gold embroidered pencil skirt and yellow gold satin belt Gianni VersaceBy Gianni VersaceLocated in Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, FRGold embroidered pencil skirtCategory
1990s Italian Skirts
- Alexander McQueen Cashmere Skirt F/W 2004By Alexander McQueenLocated in Venezia, ITAlexander McQueen Skirt F/W 2004 Size: 42 Materials: 100% Cashmere Measures: Waist 40cm / Lenght 53cm - NO RETURNSCategory
Early 2000s Italian Circle Skirts
- Asymmetrical leopard printed jersey skirt with buckle Luisa SpagnoliBy Luisa SpagnoliLocated in Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, FRAsymmetrical leopard printed jersey skirt with gold metal buckle.Draped on the waist Elastic waist band. Brown jersey lining. Size SCategory
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Skirts