1987 Yves Saint Laurent Evening Gown
View Similar Items
1987 Yves Saint Laurent Evening Gown
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Length: 51 in (129.54 cm)Marked Size: 6 (US)Bust: 34 in (86.36 cm)Hip: 40 in (101.6 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Material Notes:Silk
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Very good vintage condition.
- Seller Location:Hamburg, DE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: AU11031197195
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.
- 1990's strapless blue silk feather and strass evening dress Versace CoutureBy Atelier VersaceLocated in Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, FRVintage strapless long strapless dress in quilted blue silk sewn with feather and rhinestone stripes, Atelier Versace label, side zip and deep neckline. ...Category
1990s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- S/2010 L# 46 VERSACE AQUAMARINE EMBELLISHED ONE SHOULDER LONG DRESS Gown 40, 42By VersaceLocated in Montgomery, TXVERSACE Collection Spring/Summer 2010 look # 46 The sensational color, one-shoulder design, artfully embellished body and fluid skirt - which allows effortless movement - ensure...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Evening Gowns
- Richilene for Elizabeth Arden 1970s Blue Sheer Silk Midi DressBy RichileneLocated in Sparks, NVGorgeous sheer washy Atlantic blue silk midi dress by Richilene for Elizabeth Arden. This dress features long sheer balloon sleeves, a ruffled collar and full sweep triple layered sk...Category
1970s American Cocktail Dresses
$350 Sale Price29% Off - Pale Blue Vintage Dress by La Petite FrancaiseBy petite francaiseLocated in London, GBA lovely shift dress by Petite Francaise. In a pretty pale blue colour the dress has pretty beaded collar and elbow length sleeves. it is fully lined with a central back zip.Category
1960s British Evening Dresses and Gowns
- 1960's Custom Emerald Heavily Embellished Gown and Jacket Size 4-8Located in Los Angeles, CAThis custom 1960's ensemble is composed of a deep green embellished silk with a floral motif. The jacket features center front hook and eye closures and the gown has a center back zi...Category
1960s Hong Kong Evening Gowns
- Lanvin Mod 1970s Vibrant Foliage Vine Print Belted GownBy Lanvin ParisLocated in University City, MOLanvin Paris Mod 1970s vibrant foliage vine print poly knit gown The chic poly knit gown is designed with a row of matching fabric covered buttons that run down the front Designed ...Category
1970s French Evening Dresses and Gowns
$475 Sale Price38% Off
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.