Yves Saint Laurent Black Safari Tunic
View Similar Items
Yves Saint Laurent Black Safari Tunic
About the Item
- Designer:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: 40 (EU)Bust: 40 in (101.6 cm)Waist: 38 in (96.52 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU45194270
Yves Saint Laurent
French fashion 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, 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, 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.
- Iconic Gucci By Tom Ford Black Tab Runway Coat 2001By Tom Ford for Gucci, GucciLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Tom Ford for Gucci black collarless evening coat featuring long sleeves, straight silhouette an exposed brass zipper and black tabs...Category
Early 2000s Italian Coats and Outerwear
- Important Maison Martin Margiela Navy Runway Coat With Obi Buckle Belt 1996By Maison Martin MargielaLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is pleased to offer a vintage Maison Martin Margiela dark navy wool coat featuring an oversized attached silver-tone belt buckle and adjustable belt, side-front ...Category
1990s French Coats and Outerwear
- Maison Martin Margiela Grey Basting Vest 1997By Maison Martin MargielaLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is pleased to offer a vintage Maison Martin Margiela grey suiting lapel vest with white basting stitching. Circa 1997. Maison Martin Margiela Size: One Size Woo...Category
1990s French Coats and Outerwear
- Stunning Yves Saint Laurent YSL Burgundy Velvet Coat 1970sBy Yves Saint LaurentLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a classic vintage Yves Saint Laurent burgundy velvet coat featuring a high collar, slightly high empire w...Category
1970s French Coats
- Balenciaga Black Drape CoatBy BalenciagaLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga black tailored coat-dress featuring long sleeves, a knee-length snap front panel, and asymmetrica...Category
20th Century French Coats and Outerwear
$1,200 - Comme des Garcons Black Fancy Coat 2008By Comme des GarçonsLocated in Los Angeles, CAComme des Garcons black and navy pinstripe fancy coat with ruffle at skirt. Three button front and flat shorter skirt at back. Ribbons and trim details throughout. Collection AW 2006.Category
20th Century Japanese Coats and Outerwear
- Christian Dior Golden Sable Fur CoatBy Christian DiorLocated in Amsterdam, NLRare Christian Dior Paris vintage coat with golden sable fur Collectors item We offer more exclusive fur items, view our frontstore. Details: Trimm...Category
20th Century French Coats and Outerwear
- 1930S Peach Silk Tie Front Bed Jacket With Embroidered Net Lace TrimLocated in New York, NY1930S Peach Silk Tie Front Bed Jacket With Embroidered Net Lace TrimCategory
1930s Car Coats
- 1980S EMANUEL UNGARO Style Blue Floral Silk Jacquard Long Sleeve DressLocated in New York, NY1980S EMANUEL UNGARO Style Blue Floral Silk Jacquard Long Sleeve DressCategory
1980s Car Coats
- S/2016 look # 2 NEW VERSACE RED SEMI LINE 100% SILK BLAZER 50 - 40By VersaceLocated in Montgomery, TXVERSACE Spring/Summer 2016 look # 2 Red silk blazer from Versace A graphic print and a two gold-tone Medusa front button fastening. Three front...Category
2010s Italian Coats and Outerwear
$2,246 Sale Price25% Off - Verheyen London Serena Collarless Faux Fur Coat in Blue - Size uk 12By Verheyen LondonLocated in London, GBVerheyen London Serena Collarless Faux Fur Coat in Black - Size uk 12 Handmade in London, made with the highest quality faux fur on the market - you wouldn't even know it was fake,...Category
2010s Coats
$687 Sale Price22% Off - Nina Ricci Grey Wool Knit Cocoon Coat, c.1970sBy Nina RicciLocated in New York, NYNina Ricci Grey Wool Knit Cocoon Coat, c.1970s 1970s Nina Ricci Grey Cocoon Coat featuring boat neckline collar and tapered Raglan sleeves. Three wooden button closure at center fron...Category
1970s French Cocoon Coats
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.