Yves Saint Laurent Couture Foliage Printed Silk Chiffon Cocktail Dress, c.1970s.
View Similar Items
Yves Saint Laurent Couture Foliage Printed Silk Chiffon Cocktail Dress, c.1970s.
About the Item
- Designer:
- Dimensions:Height: 42 in (106.68 cm)Length: 42 in (106.68 cm)Bust: 32 in (81.28 cm)Waist: 30 in (76.2 cm)
- Style:1970s (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU169127674622
Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche
Visionary French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent was the first to launch a ready-to-wear label, YSL Rive Gauche Prêt-à-Porter. The inaugural Rive Gauche boutique — a modern shop in Paris’s bustling, bohemian Left Bank district — offered stylish garments and accessories that were intended to be affordable for a younger generation of fashion enthusiasts. The store featured Mies van der Rohe chairs and played host to actor Catherine Deneuve during its grand opening.
Saint Laurent pioneered “cross-design” in fashion, taking inspiration from street trends to modernize haute couture. He was the first couturier to open boutiques for both men and women. Using traditional menswear fabrics and designs for women, he 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 — Rive Gauche is French for “left bank” — followed soon thereafter by YSL Rive Gauche for men. Ready-to-wear materialized during a period of dynamic transformation and experimentation and came to dominate the Paris fashion scene. 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.
The vintage YSL Rive Gauche clothing for sale on 1stDibs includes evening dresses and gowns, jackets, shoes, handbags and other items.
- Elaborately Beaded French FLapper Dress, c.1920sLocated in New York, NYElaborately Beaded French FLapper Dress, c.1920s Indigo knee-length gauze Flapper dress with intricate beading of art deco style motifs in shades of indigo, blue and silver. Featurin...Category
1920s French Aesthetic Evening Dresses
- Thierry Mugler S/S 1994 White Pleated DressBy Thierry MuglerLocated in New York, NYThierry Mugler S/S 1994 White Fan Pleated Dress; with pleated gathering to central metal ring at midriff, satin-covered lightly-boned corset to interior. Fits US size 4, EU 34; Miss...Category
1990s French Evening Dresses
- 1970s Bill Blass Black Strapless Feather GownBy Bill BlassLocated in New York, NY1970s Bill Blass Black Silk Taffeta Strapless Gown; Fitted Boned Bodice with Outsized Bow; Cascading Ostrich Feather Skirt.Category
1980s North American Ball Gowns
- 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
- 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
- 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
- New LANVIN Duchesse Satin Vintage Gray Long Wedding Celebrity Gown US 2 4 FR 36By Lanvin ParisLocated in Goshen, KYSize: French 36 Brand: LANVIN Color: Light Dove Gray Season: Vintage Features: Strapless sweetheart neckline Draped detail throughout Ruffle detail at side Belt at waist Long leng...Category
2010s Wedding Dresses
- Vintage 1960's Lilac & Gold Lurex Keyhole Dress UK 12-14 US 8-10Located in Cheltenham, GBA classic silhouette rendered in a lilac cotton weave with a gold lurex thread geometric woven pattern, this eye-catching 1960's dress is just the piece for your cocktail wardrobe. The stylised rounded mandarin collar is framed by a simple shoulder line and a sleeveless cut. The detailed bodice is accented by three teardrop shaped keyhole features along the front of the neckline. The fitted bodice is accented tailored darts along the bust-line and a fitted waistline. The timeless A line cut of the skirt, completes this dress in an iconic 1960's silhouette. Label: None Measurements of the Dress: Armpit to Armpit: up to 36 inches Shoulder to Hem: 52 inches Waist: up to 32 inches Hips: up to 41 inches Fastenings: This dress fastens with a 21 inch plastic zip and two hook and eyes along the nape Size: UK 12-14 US 8-10 Condition: This dress is in perfect vintage condition, with very gentle wear to the fabric along the back of the collar. Washing instructions: This garment should be dry cleaned Fabric: lurex woven thread, cotton Vintage garments have been previously worn and lovingly cared for, they may however have a blemish or two. Here at Willow Hilson...Category
1960s Cocktail Dresses
- Vintage 1950's Pink Swirling Satin & Tulle Dress UK 6 US 2Located in Cheltenham, GBThis iconic 1950's dress, rendered in layers of pink tulle, with delicate circular satin details, is just the piece for that special occasion. The strapless cut of the dress, featu...Category
1950s Cocktail Dresses
- 2003FW Gianni Versace runway gownBy Gianni VersaceLocated in CAPELLE AAN DEN IJSSEL, ZHIntroducing a breathtaking masterpiece: the mesmerizing purple Gianni Versace gown, expertly crafted by the visionary designer Donatella Versace. This remarkable creation hails from ...Category
Early 2000s Aesthetic Evening Dresses
$5,678 Sale Price20% Off - DOLCE & GABBANA - Vintage Rose Pink Silk Satin Sleveless Dress | Size 2US 34EUBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Cuggiono, MIIt is a pre-owned Dolce & Gabbana midi dress in pastel rose-pink, featuring a pleated half-circle skirt, a scoop neckline, two side pockets and a zip on the back side with hook-and-e...Category
Early 2000s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Givenchy Couture John Galliano S/S 1997 Bouquet Floral Ribbon Print Midi DressBy Givenchy, John GallianoLocated in Chicago, ILDesigned by John Galliano for the Givenchy Couture spring/summer 1997 collection; his last collection for the label. Galliano only designed for the fashion house for 2 years which ma...Category
1990s French Empire Waist Dresses