Tom Ford for YSL Devilishy Decadent Black Chantilly Lace Evening Dress
View Similar Items
Tom Ford for YSL Devilishy Decadent Black Chantilly Lace Evening Dress
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1962935003
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.
- Gianfranco Ferre Favorite Avant Garde Beaded Blue Evening Dress NEWBy Gianfranco FerréLocated in Los Angeles, CAGianfranco Ferre's highly architectural avant garde creation, designed with an art deco influence, is truly unique and imaginative in an amazing innovative and structurally breathtak...Category
Early 2000s Evening Dresses
- Christian Dior Chevron Pattern Evening Ensemble Inspired by 1950 Dior CollectionBy Christian DiorLocated in Los Angeles, CACirca 1999 John Galliano for House of Dior inspired from a little known rare 1950's collection by Christian Dior. Gown fashioned of black white and red ...Category
Late 20th Century Evening Gowns
- Antonio Berardi Extraordinary Runway Beaded Monastic Tabard Cady Dress GownBy Antonio BerardiLocated in Los Angeles, CAAntonio Berardi monastic tabard gown. Highly sought after and limited in production. Considered one of the best pieces of the designer's runway collections. A grand and highly styli...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Evening Gowns
- Rubin Singer Demi Couture Wine Velvet Strapless Gown DressBy Rubin SingerLocated in Los Angeles, CARubin Singer is known for creating special event glamour gowns, and this one is no exception. Fashioned of rich deep wine velvet expertly draped onto the...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Evening Gowns
$4,960 Sale Price20% Off - Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture Runway Grecian Drape Dress Gown 1997-1998By Yves Saint LaurentLocated in Los Angeles, CAA stunning gown fashioned of deep plum silk charmeuse designed by Yves Saint Laurent from his runway Haute Couture Collection circa 1997-98. With inspiration in style and color from ...Category
Late 20th Century Evening Gowns
- Schiaparelli "Man Ray" Cold Shoulder Handkerchief Hem Dress Wearable ArtBy SchiaparelliLocated in Los Angeles, CASchiaparelli’s Spring pret-a-porter 2019 collection presented a focus on artist Man Ray. Eye catching and dramatic Schiaparelli silk dress with shirtwaist style bodice extending into a flowing handkerchief hem skirt. Complimented with graceful bishop style sleeves with cold shoulder openings and anchored with cuffs of woven design fabric. Tiny crystal buttons used for sleeve closure if desired. The art work is clear, crisp and memorable. The back showcases an Afro American hand. Front shows the memorable man ray “eye...Category
2010s Evening Dresses
- Badgley Mischka Beaded Black Silk Lace Evening Gown Size US 10By Badgley MischkaLocated in New York, NYBadgley Mischka glamorous black silk lace evening gown, size US 10. Gown features hand beaded and embroidered lace with glass jet beading, and neckline with glass jet beads along cu...Category
Late 20th Century American Evening Gowns
- Rare LARRY ALDRICH COUTURE 1950s Silk Taffeta Bow & Button Cocktail DressLocated in Asheville, NCLarry Aldrich, 1950's Era Vintage Couture, Silk Taffeta, V Neck Front Wrap Style with Bow, Two Front Pockets, Nine Fabric Back Buttons, Built-in Moderate Crinoline with Hook and Eye ...Category
1950s Cocktail Dresses
$909 Sale Price30% Off - Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Black Gown with Open Back, 1990.By Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheLocated in New York, NYYves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Black Gown with Open Back, 1990. Full length woven dress with waistband. Features slit at center front and open ...Category
1990s French Evening Dresses
- Calvin Klein Black Lace Cocktail Dress, c. 1990s.By Calvin KleinLocated in New York, NYCalvin Klein Black Lace Cocktail Dress, c. 1990s. Calvin Klein Black Lace Cocktail Dress featuring low cut V-ncekline and shoulder pads. Beautiful Lace hem extends past chiffon linin...Category
1990s American Cocktail Dresses
- Thierry Mugler Haute Couture Green Velvet Dress with Belt, "VAMPIRE DRESS" 1981.By Thierry Mugler CoutureLocated in New York, NYThierry Mugler Haute Couture Green Velvet Dress with Belt, "VAMPIRE DRESS" 1981. Off the shoulder puff-sleeve green velvet dress featuring fitted inner s...Category
1980s French Aesthetic Evening Dresses
- Gianfranco Ferré black gown with sheer sleeves, ca. 1970By Gianfranco FerréLocated in New York, NYGianfranco Ferré black gown with sheer sleeves, ca. 1970 Long black wool dress with subtle shimmer featuring waistcoat-style bodice with sheer sleeves. Mermaid skirt features diagona...Category
1970s Italian Aesthetic 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.
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.