Yves Saint Laurent Navy Sheer Gown
View Similar Items
Yves Saint Laurent Navy Sheer Gown
About the Item
- Designer:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: 36 (EU)Bust: 36 in (91.44 cm)Waist: 25 in (63.5 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU45323852
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.
- Vintage Yves Saint Laurent YSL Pink Taffeta Ruffle Party DressBy Yves Saint LaurentLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Yves Saint Laurent silk taffeta peasant dress featuring a square collar, short ruffle sleeves, red sash, full skirt, and tiered ruf...Category
1980s French Day Dresses
- Junya Watanabe Floral Embroidered Dress 2011By Junya WatanabeLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Junya Watanabe for Comme des Garcons lace tunic top featuring pink and orange floral embroidery, handkerchief hem, square neckline,...Category
2010s Japanese Informal Dresses
- Vintage Moschino Italian Flag "Fake" Glass Bead DressBy MoschinoLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Moschino by Franco Moschino black and white "Fake" text mini dress with a white graphic arrow and glass necklace collar. The decorative necklace features the colors of the Italian flag...Category
1980s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Roberto Cavalli Burgundy Satin Slip Dress With Gold Metallic PrintBy Roberto CavalliLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to present a vintage Roberto Cavalli burgundy slip dress with a decorative floral flocking print featuring thin straps, a slip dress style bodice, and...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Evening Dresses
- Vintage Gianni Versace Black Leather Architectural DressBy Gianni VersaceLocated in Los Angeles, CAVintage Gianni Versace black leather dress with interesting neckline detail and hip pouch pocket and back zipper closure. Relaxed easy fit throug...Category
1980s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Dolce & Gabbana Black Velvet Mini Dress With Fringe Hem & Rhinestone StrapsBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Dolce & Gabbana black velvet slip dress featuring a fitted body, skinny straps with rhinestones, a fringe hem, and knee-length. D...Category
Early 2000s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Azzedine Alaia black white polka dot sleeveless flare babydoll mini dress FR 36By Azzedine AlaïaLocated in Paris, FRAzzedine Alaia sleeveless flared dress in black with white polka dot print Fitted upper which extends into a flared full skirt Concealed back zip Size: FR 36 with plenty of stretch...Category
2010s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Oscar de la Renta SS 2000 yellow grey stripe bustier corset maxi dress ball gownBy Oscar De La RentaLocated in Paris, FRAn incredible gown by Oscar de La Renta from the Spring Summer 2000 collection Pale yellow corset style upper with a grey structured skirt that flares ou...Category
Early 2000s American Ball Gowns
- Dolce & Gabbana F/W 2004 sheer pink lace silk crystal strap dress gownBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Paris, FRAn Incredibly rare floor length gown from Dolce & Gabbana's Fall 2004 collection Pink silk and lace cut out sheer dress with double crystal straps Concealed back zip Size: IT 42. Th...Category
Early 2000s Italian Evening Dresses
- Ralph Lauren purple label vintage black pearl embellished backless gown dressBy Ralph Lauren Purple LabelLocated in Paris, FRLOVE LALI Vintage Ralph Lauren Collection purple label Please note before I get into the description of this beautiful gown, as you can see in the photogra...Category
21st Century and Contemporary North American Evening Gowns
- Valentino 98 Vintage black embellished tassel backless sequin maxi dress gownBy ValentinoLocated in Paris, FRLOVE LALI Vintage An incredibly rare black embellished gown from Valentino Spring/Summer 1998 Beautiful fine silk crepe that is cut on the bias...Category
1990s Italian Evening Gowns
- Jason Wu Ivory black leather strap backless silk maxi slip dress wedding gownBy Jason WuLocated in Paris, FRLOVE LALI Vintage Jason Wu floor length ivory silk gown in the style of a slinky slip dress Double mock leather straps that cross over at the back Cow...Category
2010s 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.