Documented YVES SAINT LAURENT YSL Brown Pleated Crushed Velvet Skirt, late 1970s
View Similar Items
Documented YVES SAINT LAURENT YSL Brown Pleated Crushed Velvet Skirt, late 1970s
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Length: 38.2 in (97.03 cm)Marked Size: F 38 (Vintage) (EU)Waist: 26 in (66.04 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Munich, DE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU785310003482
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.
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.
- 1980s Ara Modell Black Velvet Pencil Skirt with White Lined Slit Size SLocated in Munich, DEThis figure-flattering high waisted black velvet pencil skirt features an alluring center front slit lined in white satin which measures 31 cm – 12.2". The skirt has two side pockets...Category
1980s German Pencil Skirts
- DOLCE & GABBANA Fall 1991 Runway Multicoloured Crystal-Embellished Mini SkirtBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Munich, DE"You can not beat Dolce & Gabbana early '90s, especially these [crystal-embellished] looks", said Kim Kardashian when presenting the Kim x Dolce & Gabbana collection for Spring/Summe...Category
1990s Italian Skirts
- Escada Black Crushed Velvet Jacket Blazer with Passementerie Border, 1980sBy Margaretha Ley, EscadaLocated in Munich, DELuxe Escada by Margaretha Ley jacket or blazer in plush black crushed silk blend velvet with beautiful passementerie border and buttons. This double breasted style jacket features an...Category
1980s German Blazers
- Fall 1983 Yves Saint Laurent Ad Campaign Black Velvet Dress with Jewel ButtonsBy Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, Yves Saint LaurentLocated in Munich, DEOh! Jackie is delighted to offer this sophisticated Fall 1983 Yves Saint Laurent little black dress. This dress is extra special as it was photographed by Helmut Newton for that sea...Category
1980s French Cocktail Dresses
- Yves Saint Laurent YSL Grey Faux Astrakhan Fur and Black Velvet Jacket, c. 1992By Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, Yves Saint LaurentLocated in Munich, DEUnusual and rare vintage Yves Saint Laurent charcoal grey faux fur Persian lamb or Astrakhan coat with black velvet collar, cuffs and edging probably from the Fall 1992 ready-to-wear...Category
1990s French Coats
- AZZEDINE ALAÏA 1993 Documented Black Perforated Boiled Wool Pants LeggingsBy Azzedine AlaïaLocated in Munich, DEHere we have a truly important and documented piece of fashion history by AZZEDINE ALAÏA from his Fall 1993 collection: the black perforated boiled wool-blend pants with fringed finishings. They were worn by super model Nadja Auermann for an editorial shot photographed by Gilles Bensimon for Elle France in 1993. Please see the picture after the label shot. This design is so iconic that it made it into the recently by Maison ALAÏA...Category
1990s Italian Pants
- Etro Multi-Green Palsey Maxi SkirtBy EtroLocated in New York, NYEtro Multi-greens of palsey and floral maxi skirt measures 39" in total length. The waist measures 32", hips are 41", with an invisible side zipper which measures 6 1/2". S...Category
1990s Italian Skirts
- Rochas Floral Evening SkirtBy Olivier TheyskensLocated in New York, NYOlivier Theyskens, for Rochas, floral pattern, silk, evening skirt, having a flat banded waist, and deep, gathered, flounce starting at the knee and going down to the floor. Lovely s...Category
Early 2000s Italian Ruffled Skirts
- Louis Vuitton Black Bustier Tank and Skirt Set with Bow Detail at ShouldersBy Louis VuittonLocated in San Francisco, CALouis Vuitton black shirt and skirt set. Tank features a bubble style hem and bows at each shoulder with pleat detailing at bust. Seam detail at back. Top fastens at back with hook a...Category
2010s French Skirts
- Lanvin Hiver 2006 Black Silk Skirt with Side Button Closure.By Lanvin ParisLocated in West Palm Beach, FLLanvin black silk chiffon skirt has a velvet waist band and padded silk satin hem band, the chiffon of the skirt is draped vertically over a silk knit lining. This unique skirt close...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Pleated Skirts
- Roberto Cavalli Pencil Skirt Semi Sheer Pleated Ruffle Hem Black SBy Roberto CavalliLocated in Miami, FLGuaranteed authentic Roberto Cavalli black pencil skirt. Skirt has 1.75" translucent pleated fringe at bottom. Hidden rear zip with hook and eye at waist. Fabric is wool, nylon an...Category
2010s Pencil Skirts
- Vintage Swarovski Decorated KiltLocated in New York, NYVintage wool pleated kilt decorated with bezel set Swarovski crystals along the hips. Button front wrap closure. Upcycled and made for a Japan Vogue Shoot x MWLC Studios. 28" waist...Category
1990s American Pleated Skirts
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.