Saint Laurent Leather Cross-Body Bag
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Material Notes:Composition - Leather
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Condition – Fair (Multiple scratches to the leather).
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:
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. Under creative director Hedi Slimane, the house’s ready-to-wear collection was rebranded as Saint Laurent in 2012.
Browse an extraordinary collection of vintage 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.
- Christian Louboutin Python Skin Sweet Charity BagBy Christian LouboutinLocated in London, GBChristian Louboutin Python Skin Sweet Charity Bag Beige and brown tone, snake skin bag. With gold chain strap and bow push lock closure. Bright red ico...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Crossbody Bags and Messenger Bags
- Dolce & Gabbana Lizard Skin Camera BagBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in London, GBRare Piece - Dolce & Gabbana Lizard Skin Camera Bag Brown shoulder bag crafted from exotic leather in a shape of a camera and designed with gold tone details and mirrored camera le...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Crossbody Bags and Messenger Bags
- Hermes Della Cavalleria Mini Epsom Leather BagBy HermèsLocated in London, GBBrand New - Hermes Della Cavalleria Mini Epsom Leather Bag Black, structured crossbody bag detailed with palladium plated clasp in the shape of half a Verdun horse bit, hugging the ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Crossbody Bags and Messenger Bags
- Hermes Constance Elan Crossbody Leather BagBy HermèsLocated in London, GBHermes Constance Elan Crossbody Bag Taupe leather with gold hardware. Crossbody strap. Date code 2012. Size - Height 16cm, Width 29cm, Depth 5cm Condition - Very Good (Some light...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Crossbody Bags and Messenger Bags
- Christian Dior Cannage Dioraddict Studded BagBy Christian DiorLocated in London, GBChristian Dior Cannage Dioraddict Studded Bag - Large Model Red leather crossbody bag features a gold studded and quilted body. Aged gold-tone chain link, detachable shoulder stra...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Crossbody Bags and Messenger Bags
- MCM Leather Crossbody BagBy MCMLocated in London, GBMCM Leather Crossbody Bag Black 'Mitte' bag detailed with silver stud trim embellishment. Featuring adjustable shoulder strap and logo engraved closure t...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Crossbody Bags and Messenger Bags
- Gucci Mini Micro Bamboo Suede Cross Body Bag GG-B0509P-0004By GucciLocated in Downey, CASmall ultra-soft sand brown suede cross body from Gucci featuring iconic bamboo accents, grained leather trim, gold-tone hardware, and tonal topstitching. Brown suede and Calfskin le...Category
2010s Italian Crossbody Bags and Messenger Bags
- Hermès Rouge H Clémence Birkin 40 PHWBy HermèsLocated in New York, NYListing Title: Hermès Rouge H Clémence Birkin 40 PHW SKU: 118578 Condition: Pre-owned (3000) Handbag Condition: Very Good Condition Comments: Very Good ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Crossbody Bags and Messenger Bags
- Gucci Python Tassel Crossbody BagBy GucciLocated in Scottsdale, AZThis Gucci handbag is an iconic piece to the Gucci house! This features a beautiful neutral python leather that is accompanied by faint green, blue, and ye...Category
Early 2000s Italian Crossbody Bags and Messenger Bags
- Louis Vuitton Glacier Grey Taiga Leather Vassili PM Messenger Bag rt. $3, 300By Louis VuittonLocated in New York, NYLouis Vuitton Glacier Grey Taiga Leather Vassili PM Messenger Bag Made In: Italy Year of Production: Missing datecode Color: Glacier Grey Hardwa...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Crossbody Bags and Messenger Bags
- Gucci Marmont GG Gold Buckle Leather Crossbody Bag GG-B0209N-0001By GucciLocated in Downey, CAGucci Marmont GG Gold Buckle Leather Crossbody Bag GG-B0209N-0001 Here is another beauty brought to you by the world famous House of Fashion GUCCI. The bag include elegant GG Marmon...Category
2010s Italian Crossbody Bags and Messenger Bags
- Mark Cross Earthtone Python Crossbody Bag GHWBy Mark CrossLocated in West Palm Beach, FLThis creation from Mark Cross is a structured bag in excellent condition made with Python skin and interior leather. The interior is lined in luxurious red leather with a zipped pocket and open pocket with python lining. The back of the bag features another large, zipped pocket. The gold hardware linked chain is adjustable and can be worn as a shoulder bag or as a crossbody. This bag features a gold hardware metal closure...Category
2010s American Crossbody Bags and Messenger Bags
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 Golden Saint Laurent Handbag Feels Like a Disco-Era Throwback (in the Best Way Possible)
If you're looking for an accessory that brings the party, this is it.