Yves Saint Laurent by Tom Ford Embellished Top and Silk Skirt Ensemble, FW 2003
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: FR 36 / 38 (EU)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU140222832652
Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent
No one understands sex appeal quite like Tom Ford. When Gucci acquired Yves Saint Laurent in 1999, the Texas-born fashion designer had been Gucci’s creative director for several years and was also named creative director for YSL. Ford designed YSL’s ready-to-wear collection, and his vintage evening dresses, shirts, skirts and other garments for the maison are particularly popular today.
An avowed perfectionist from an early age, Ford was rearranging furniture at the age of six and offering his mother advice on her hair and shoes. The designer, author, film director and chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) is one of the most successful people working in fashion today.
Born in Austin, Ford grew up in the suburbs of Houston and Santa Fe, New Mexico. He briefly attended New York University, where he studied art history before dropping out to pursue acting. He became a regular at Studio 54, with its decadent nightlife later informing his high-octane fashion. He studied architecture at Parsons School of Design before shifting his focus to fashion and spending time at the Parsons Paris campus, graduating in 1985. The rest of the decade he worked for designers Perry Ellis and Cathy Hardwick. In 1990, Gucci’s creative director Dawn Mello hired him as a womens-wear designer.
At the time, the Italian label was better known for leather goods than luxury fashion. It was also nearly bankrupt. After Mello left in 1994, following a Bahrain-based investment group becoming Gucci’s majority shareholder, Ford was named creative director. He soon infused the brand with a fresh sensuality and bold style. His fall 1995 show, in which Kate Moss walked down the runway in an unbuttoned satin shirt, velvet hip-huggers and tousled hair, heralded an exciting, glammed-up era for the once fusty brand. Vogue critic Sarah Mower called it “one of those hitting-in-the-solar-plexus moments.”
As Ford shot to fame, he continued to explore plunging necklines, such as in the black and white looks of the Fall 1996 collection, and sumptuous fabrics like leather and tweed, with the Fall 2000 ready-to-wear collection ranging from sultry silk evening dresses to plush belted coats. He also cranked up the seduction in the provocative ads for the fashion house, particularly with regard to campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent, which Gucci acquired in 1999. Gucci's Fall/Winter 1997 campaign featured Carolyn Murphy grasping Angela Lindvall in what looked like a video still; in another shot, a face pressed against a foot in a lipstick-red heel. Each promoted a vision of modern fashion where women were sexually confident, the materials were luxurious and the styles were fearless.
In 2004, Ford and Gucci president Domenico De Sole left the company after failing to agree on the renewal of their contracts. In 2006, with De Sole as chairman, Ford launched his wildly successful eponymous menswear label. The brand has expanded into womens wear, beauty, accessories — vintage Tom Ford handbags are universally adored by celebrities and collectors alike — as well as eyewear and fragrance, with the unisex Black Orchid introduced in 2006. Ford broke into film directing with the critically acclaimed A Single Man in 2009 and Nocturnal Animals in 2016, continuing to blur the boundaries between fashion and culture.
Find vintage Tom Ford YSL day dresses, handbags and other clothing and accessories now on 1stDibs.
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: London, United Kingdom
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Vivienne Westwood black velvet glitter figure hugging maxi dress, fw 1991By Vivienne WestwoodLocated in London, GBVivienne Westwood black velvet glitter figure hugging maxi dress Always on Camera, Fall-Winter 1991Category
1990s British Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Azzedine Alaia black acetate knit figure hugging evening dress, A/W 1986By Azzedine AlaïaLocated in London, GB- Metal zip closure at the back - Figure hugging fit - Turtle neck Autumn-Winter 1986Category
1980s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Ralph Lauren black hand beaded evening dress, fw 2013By Ralph LaurenLocated in London, GB▪ Ralph Lauren Purple Label evening dress ▪ Sold by One of a Kind Archive ▪ Fall-Winter 2013 ▪ Constructed from black viscose jersey ▪ Thousands of hand-beaded black bugle beads ▪ P...Category
2010s American Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Christian Dior by John Galliano grey checked nylon sheath dress, ss 2000By Christian Dior, John Galliano for Christian DiorLocated in London, GB▪ Christian Dior grey checked nylon sheath dress ▪ Designed by John Galliano ▪ Sold by One of a Kind Archive ▪ Spring-Summer 2000 ▪ Stretch nylon/elastane blend with a grey Prince of...Category
Early 2000s French Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Gianni Versace metallic gold leather mini dress, fw 1994By Gianni VersaceLocated in London, GB▪ Gianni Versace metallic gold leather mini dress ▪ Sold by One of a Kind Archive ▪ Fall-Winter 1994 ▪ Croc-embossed ▪ Diagonal front zipper ▪ 2 front pockets ▪ IT 40 - FR 36 - UK...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Dolce & Gabbana silk brown evening dress with crystal waistband, fw 2005By Dolce & GabbanaLocated in London, GB▪ Dolce & Gabbana silk brown evening dress ▪ Sold by One of a Kind Archive ▪ Fall-Winter 2005 ▪ Cowl neck ▪ Crystal waistband ▪ Back zip fastening...Category
Early 2000s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Vintage 1960's cream silk beaded dress original 1960's wedding dress UK 12 Us 8Located in Cheltenham, GBA vision rendered in a truly embellished fashion, this original vintage 1960's cream wool silk dress, embellished with silver glass beads, pearlescent beads, gold beads and silver cl...Category
1960s Cocktail Dresses
- Vintage 1940's Pink Silk Evening Dress Beaded Pearl Floral Dress UK 8 Us 4Located in Cheltenham, GBA beauty to behold. This original 1940's pink silk dress, embellished with trailing silk threaded soutache embroidery depicting blossoming flowers, surrounded by pearlescent beaded d...Category
1940s Unknown Evening Dresses
- Vintage 1960's yellow sequin beaded cocktail dress wiggle dress UK 12 US 8Located in Cheltenham, GBThis breathtaking 1960's yellow knitted wool dress, embellished in its entirety with clear iridescent sequins, and finished with floral beaded details in yellow rocaille beads, and i...Category
1960s Cocktail Dresses
- Chanel 13P Spring 2013 Wool Tweed Runway Sequins Faux Pearl Dress 38 NewBy ChanelLocated in Merced, CAChanel runway tweed sequins dress from Chanel spring 2013 runway dress adorned with Cc logo buttons and faux pearl.Category
Mid-20th Century French Shift Cocktail Dresses
- EMILIO PUCCI vintage silk long dress 60sBy Emilio PucciLocated in Rubiera, REEmilio Pucci Long pink long dress Vintage 60s Fantasy on pink background; adorned with crystals and beads. Fully hand finished, double lined. 100% silk The size label has been cut. L...Category
1960s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- 1980s Dimitri Kritsas long black dressLocated in Milano, IT1980s Dimitri Kritsas long black dress with wide shawl neckline and low cut back. Rounded high slit in front with fitted long sleeves. Evening dress Size: M Waist: 88 cm Length: 14...Category
1980s American Evening 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.
This Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen Ensemble Is Part Zsa Zsa Gabor, Part ‘Blade Runner’
As Burton steps away from the brand, it’s a fitting time to revisit one of her visionary designs.