NWT Yves Saint Laurent 2012 Collection Silk Leopard Print Corset Maxi Dress Fr40
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: 40 (EU)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Montgomery, TX
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU653119490562
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Montgomery, TX
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Vintage Bob Mackie Boutique Fully Embellished Pink Silver Dress Gown US 12By Bob MackieLocated in Montgomery, TXVintage Bob Mackie Fully Embellished Long Dress Gown The Strapless version of this dress was worn by Goldie Hawn at 66th Academy awards in 1989. Des...Category
1980s American Evening Gowns
- Vintage 1982 Bob Mackie Red Fully Beaded Dress Gown size US 6By Bob MackieLocated in Montgomery, TXA magnificent 1982 Bob Mackie Gown. Designer size 6. Color - Dark Red. Embellished with Beads and Sequins Over the Black Net. Corset and Waistband. Fu...Category
1880s American Evening Dresses
- Emilio Pucci Embellished Dress in Gold It. 40 - US 4By Emilio PucciLocated in Montgomery, TXEmilio Pucci Embellished dress in Gold Editor’s note: Sequins, beads and crystals. Details: V-neck, 3/4 sleeves, Content: 92% silk, 8% elastane. It Size: 40 – US 4 Length: 36″, Armpi...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Cocktail Dresses
- New F/W 2000 Tom Ford for Gucci Runway Lycra Metallic Cocktail Dress It 46 US 10By Gucci, Tom FordLocated in Montgomery, TXTom Ford for Gucci Cocktail Lycra Metallic Dress F/W 2000 Collection Look 30/54 Italian size 46 - US 10 Double Layered, Simple Slip-on. Made in Italy New without tag.Category
Early 2000s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- New F/W 2000 Tom Ford for Gucci Vintage Metallic Plunging Lion Brooch 40 42 44By Tom Ford for GucciLocated in Montgomery, TXVintage New Tom Ford for Gucci Deep Plunging Dress Fall/Winter 2000 Collection Designer sizes available 40, 42, 44 - US 4, 6, 8. Gold/Tan Metallic Si...Category
Early 2000s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Christian Dior Paris Automne-Hiver 1980 Numbered Lace Gown with StoleBy Christian DiorLocated in Montgomery, TXChristian Dior Automne-Hiver 1980 Dress Embellished with beads and sequins. Lace has metal gold thread through. Boned bodice with attached interior waist belt. Triple skirt silk lini...Category
1980s French Evening Gowns
- Vintage 1930's Pleated & Ruched Amber Satin Dress UK 10 US 6Located in Cheltenham, GBA beauty to behold, this original 1930's satin dress rendered in the most sumptuous shade of amber satin, is the perfect statement piece for your special occasion wardrobe. The rou...Category
1930s Evening Dresses
- Mariano Fortuny Claret Delphos. Provenance Tina ChowBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated claret colored silk with silk cording along side seams, and multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording. The beads are amber glass with...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Delphos Gowns
- Mariano Fortuny Sienna Peplos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated sienna colored silk with silk cording along side seams,shoulders and tunic hem with multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording.
...CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Peplos
- Mariano Fortuny Rare Shell Pink Long Sleeved Delphos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYDescription: This dress is made of finely pleated shell pink colored silk with silk cording along side seams, and multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording.
CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Delphos Gowns
Paco Rabanne Made in Paris Cocktail DressBy Paco RabanneLocated in Sharon, CTScalloped layers of material, fully line. zipper on side. Fits American size 4-6Category1980s French Cocktail Dresses
Gertrude Arzt of Huntington (Texas) Silk/Satin Metallic Gold GownLocated in Sharon, CTA rare 1960's formal dress by important American designer Gertrude Arzt of Huntington Texas. Indian inspired overall pattern in gold thread on a satin/silk morphing color from yello...Category1960s American Evening Gowns
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.