Yves Saint Laurent Couture Velvet Evening Dress, Fall 1982
View Similar Items
Yves Saint Laurent Couture Velvet Evening Dress, Fall 1982
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: Equivalent French Size 36-38 (EU)
- Style:1982 (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Very Good condition and color.
- Seller Location:Toulon, FR
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU63334367793
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.
- A Couture Cocktail Dress in Embroidered Chiffon and satin Silk France Circa 1920Located in Toulon, FRCirca 1920 France Elegant cocktail or evening dress in black silk chiffon and tulle embroidered with jet pearls and coral glass dating from the 1920s. This...Category
1920s French Evening Dresses
- A silk pongee & White Embroidery Chiffon Summer Dress - France Circa 1920Located in Toulon, FRCirca 1918 - 1922 France Beautiful seaside resort dress for the seaside or the spa in Vichy ! Superb work of broderies anglaise on chiffon silk or ecru s...Category
1920s French Summer Dresses
- Leopard printed silk Evening Dress by Jacques Fath Haute Couture Circa 1955-1960By Jacques FathLocated in Toulon, FRCirca 1955-1960 France Beautiful Grand soir dress in black and white leopard print satin by Jacques Fath Haute Couture. The whalebone bustier with a large plunging neckline is held b...Category
1950s French Aesthetic Evening Dresses
- A Louis Féraud Couture Embroidered Chiffon Dress & Ostrich feathers - Fall 1981By Louis FeraudLocated in Toulon, FRFall Winter 1981-1982 Collection France Amazing evening dress in embroidered silk chiffon by Louis Féraud Haute Couture from the 1981-1982 collection. Loose blousante dress with pu...Category
1980s French Aesthetic Day Dresses
- French Couture Art Deco Flapper Dress Net and Voile Embroidered Circa 1920/1925Located in Toulon, FRCirca 1920/1925 France Evening dress in powder pink muslin and embroidered tulle from the Art Deco period around 1920/1925. Low-waisted straight dress ...Category
1920s French Day Dresses
- A Chiffon & Printed Satin Edwardian Tea Gown - England Circa 1905Located in Toulon, FRCirca 1905/1910 England Beautiful Tea Gown of an English Lady dating from the early twentieth century. Grey satin and muslin printed circular patterns. Effect of an apron and bib ...Category
Early 1900s British Empire Waist Dresses
- Leonard of Paris Fuschia Multi Color Silk Chiffon Strapless GownBy Leonard of ParisLocated in New York, NYVintage Leonard of Paris bright and flirty ruffled silk chiffon cocktail dress / evening gown, unmarked size, approximately US 6. Featuring four layer...Category
Late 20th Century French Evening Dresses and Gowns
- HERMES Unworn Baroque Bodycon lycra Mini dress, 90sBy HermèsLocated in Genève, CHBeautiful vintage Hermès lycra sleeveless mini dress, from 90s period. This light turquoise/yellow/cream baroque print Hermes dress is in perfect conditio...Category
1990s Italian Mini Dress
- 1980s Zandra Rhodes Abstract Motif Drop Waist Silk DressBy Zandra RhodesLocated in Scottsdale, AZLooking For The Perfect 80s Dress? Well It's Arrived! Circa 1980s, this Zandra Rhodes asymmetrical drop waist dress features a cream and black pattern of flowers, swirls and tribal i...Category
1980s English Evening Dresses
- Yves Saint Laurent Silk Beaded Maxi DressBy Yves Saint LaurentLocated in Scottsdale, AZThis is a mid-century gem! This Yves Saint Laurent gown has details upon details. The most remarkable being the intricate beaded creating a pattern around the round neckline and the ...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Maxi Dress
- Alexander McQueen lilac wool button-up sweater dress, fw 1996By Alexander McQueenLocated in London, GB▪ Alexander McQueen lilac wool sweater dress ▪ Turtleneck ▪ Opening across bust line fastening with multiple buttons ▪ Pleated seam at centre-back ▪ Worn ...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Junya Watanabe floral cotton dress with harness straps and backpack, ss 2003By Junya WatanabeLocated in London, GB▪ Junya Watanabe cotton dress ▪ All-over floral pattern with pale blue background ▪ Puff sleeves ▪ Adjustable white harness straps ▪ Detachable backpack ▪ Double layered skirt ▪...Category
Early 2000s Japanese Day 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.
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.