Yves Saint Laurent black lace and tulle crystal cocktail dress, fw 1993
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: FR 36 - UK 8 - US 4 (EU)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU140210099062
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: London, United Kingdom
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Yves Saint Laurent by Tom Ford black silk organza evening gown, c. 2002By Yves Saint Laurent, Tom FordLocated in London, GBAutumn/Winter 2002 Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent evening gown in black silk organza, the nature of this fabric is very light floaty and semi sheer. The dress is designed to hang...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Givenchy silk chiffon corseted evening dress, c. 2007By Riccardo Tisci, GivenchyLocated in London, GBA Givenchy silk chiffon evening dress from the Spring/Summer 2007 collection. The nude dress of silk chiffon features an attached red silk corset around the waist. Fr 38 -Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Alaia Autumn-Winter 1986 knitted zipper mini dressBy Azzedine AlaïaLocated in London, GBAlaia Autumn-Winter 1986 knitted zipper mini dressCategory
1980s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Alexander McQueen Autumn-Winter 2001 black silk and lace evening dressBy Alexander McQueenLocated in London, GBAlexander McQueen Autumn-Winter 2001 black silk and lace evening dress - drop waist - low back - black lace skirt, yoke and collarCategory
1990s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Alaia 3 piece knitted ensemble, Spring-Summer 1992By Azzedine AlaïaLocated in London, GBAlaia Spring-Summer 1992 3 piece knitted ensembleCategory
1990s French Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Yves Saint Laurent Autumn-Winter 1987 black lace flamenco evening dressBy Yves Saint LaurentLocated in London, GBYves Saint Laurent Autumn-Winter 1987 black lace flamenco evening dress with ruffled trimCategory
1980s French Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Nipon Boutique Black Velvet Halter Dress with Satin Ribbon Size US 6By Albert NiponLocated in New York, NYNipon Boutique black velvet cocktail dress with satin ribbon trim and bows tied at neck and back. Flirty six paneled dress body with flared bottom. Fu...Category
Late 20th Century American Evening Dresses
- Adolfo Tropical Silk Jersey Strapless Dress with Half CapeletBy AdolfoLocated in New York, NYAdolfo strapless dress with bold green, indigo and white tropical floral print. Wonderfully tailored, with fitted bodice and draped open tulip front slit above the knee for movement...Category
Late 20th Century American Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Valentino Boutique Black Beaded Silk Chiffon Evening Gown Size US 6By ValentinoLocated in New York, NYLuxurious Valentino Boutique black silk evening gown with tiered ruffles, sweeping hemline and hand beaded and embroidered bodice. Two ruffles at bodice are hand beaded with tiny jet...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- 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
- Mariano Fortuny Black Silk Peplos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated black colored silk with silk cording along side seams,shoulders and tunic hem with matte frosted colored glass beads threaded through the cordin...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Peplos
- Mariano Fortuny Black Peplos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated black 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 Delphos 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.