TOM FORD for YVES SAINT LAURENT burgundy velvet suit
View Similar Items
TOM FORD for YVES SAINT LAURENT burgundy velvet suit
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: FR 42 (EU)
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:San Fransisco, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: AU130826812191
Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent
No one understands sex appeal quite like Tom Ford. When Gucci acquired Yves Saint Laurent in 1999, the Texas-born fashion designer had been Gucci’s creative director for several years and was also named creative director for YSL. Ford designed YSL’s ready-to-wear collection, and his vintage evening dresses, shirts, skirts and other garments for the maison are particularly popular today.
An avowed perfectionist from an early age, Ford was rearranging furniture at the age of six and offering his mother advice on her hair and shoes. The designer, author, film director and chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) is one of the most successful people working in fashion today.
Born in Austin, Ford grew up in the suburbs of Houston and Santa Fe, New Mexico. He briefly attended New York University, where he studied art history before dropping out to pursue acting. He became a regular at Studio 54, with its decadent nightlife later informing his high-octane fashion. He studied architecture at Parsons School of Design before shifting his focus to fashion and spending time at the Parsons Paris campus, graduating in 1985. The rest of the decade he worked for designers Perry Ellis and Cathy Hardwick. In 1990, Gucci’s creative director Dawn Mello hired him as a womens-wear designer.
At the time, the Italian label was better known for leather goods than luxury fashion. It was also nearly bankrupt. After Mello left in 1994, following a Bahrain-based investment group becoming Gucci’s majority shareholder, Ford was named creative director. He soon infused the brand with a fresh sensuality and bold style. His fall 1995 show, in which Kate Moss walked down the runway in an unbuttoned satin shirt, velvet hip-huggers and tousled hair, heralded an exciting, glammed-up era for the once fusty brand. Vogue critic Sarah Mower called it “one of those hitting-in-the-solar-plexus moments.”
As Ford shot to fame, he continued to explore plunging necklines, such as in the black and white looks of the Fall 1996 collection, and sumptuous fabrics like leather and tweed, with the Fall 2000 ready-to-wear collection ranging from sultry silk evening dresses to plush belted coats. He also cranked up the seduction in the provocative ads for the fashion house, particularly with regard to campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent, which Gucci acquired in 1999. Gucci's Fall/Winter 1997 campaign featured Carolyn Murphy grasping Angela Lindvall in what looked like a video still; in another shot, a face pressed against a foot in a lipstick-red heel. Each promoted a vision of modern fashion where women were sexually confident, the materials were luxurious and the styles were fearless.
In 2004, Ford and Gucci president Domenico De Sole left the company after failing to agree on the renewal of their contracts. In 2006, with De Sole as chairman, Ford launched his wildly successful eponymous menswear label. The brand has expanded into womens wear, beauty, accessories — vintage Tom Ford handbags are universally adored by celebrities and collectors alike — as well as eyewear and fragrance, with the unisex Black Orchid introduced in 2006. Ford broke into film directing with the critically acclaimed A Single Man in 2009 and Nocturnal Animals in 2016, continuing to blur the boundaries between fashion and culture.
Find vintage Tom Ford YSL day dresses, handbags and other clothing and accessories now on 1stDibs.
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.
- 1950's LUCILE MANGUIN haute couture silk apron dress and jacketBy Lucile ManguinLocated in San Fransisco, CAVery rare haute couture dress and jacket made of floral silk designed by Lucile Manguin dating to the 1950's. Best fits a US 12. Jacket measures 42" at bust, 16" at shoulders, 42" at...Category
1950s French Dress and Coat Ensembles
$450 Sale Price64% Off - ALEXANDER MCQUEEN peplum dress with notebook paper printBy McQ Alexander McQueen, Alexander McQueenLocated in San Fransisco, CAUnusual, draped peplum dress with notebook paper print and black pencil skirt designed by Alexander Mcqueen for McQ dating to the mid to late 2000's. It...Category
Early 2000s Italian Skirt Suits
- 2011 JUNYA WATANABE COMME DES GARCONS runway sailor suitBy Junya Watanabe, Junya Watanabe Comme des GarçonsLocated in San Fransisco, CAWhite cotton sailor suit with navy trim designed by Junya Watanabe for Comme Des Garcons as seen on the Spring 2011 runway. Size XS. Best fits a US size 2...Category
2010s Japanese Trouser Pant Suits
- 1990's ISSEY MIYAKE navy blue jacket and skirt with top-stitchingBy Issey MiyakeLocated in San Fransisco, CANavy blue jacket and matching skirt with topstitched detail from Issey Miyake dating to the 1990's. Size 'S'. Approximate measurements for jacket: bust 36", waist 33", arm length from underarm to cuff 20" and overall length is 25.25". Skirt: waist 28.5", hips 38" and length 36". Jacket buttons...Category
1990s Japanese Suits, Outfits and Ensembles
- 1982 YVES SAINT LAURENT abstract printed silk RUNWAY top and skirtBy Yves Saint LaurentLocated in San Fransisco, CAAbstract printed silk top and matching skirt trimmed in black velvet from Yves Saint Laurent dating to fall of 1982 exactly as seen on the ruwnay. Also great worn as separates. Top i...Category
1980s French Suits, Outfits and Ensembles
- 1980's VALENTINO black wool coat and matching skirt with velvet detailBy ValentinoLocated in San Fransisco, CABlack wool coat and matching skirt with velvet detail designed by Valentino dating to the 1980's. Jacket is labeled an 8 and skirt has no size label. Coat measure approximately: shou...Category
1980s Italian Dress and Coat Ensembles
- Bespoke Black weeding groom suit by MAN BilbaoLocated in Bilbao, ESBespoke black wedding morning suit by MAN Bilbao Consisting on long tail chaqué jacket, vest, cuff link blouse, red tie, suspenders and trousers Perfect Condition Only used Once Size 54 Spain MAN 1924 appears once more in the publication Mr Porter...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Trouser Pant Suits
- Chanel Mustard Skirt Suit AW14 Supermarket CollectionBy ChanelLocated in London, GBMeticulously crafted in France from a mustard coloured tweed, this sophisticated runway skirt suit from the Chanel 2014 Karl Lagerfeld Autumn/Winter Supermarket Collection gives a mo...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Skirt Suits
- Roberto Cavalli Printed Cotton SetBy CavalliLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRCavalli -(Made in Italy) Set of pants in printed cotton and its small vest. Size indicated S for the top and XS for the bottom. Additional information: Dimensions: Top: Chest: 34 c...Category
2010s Italian Twin Sets
- Ungaro Haute Embroidered with Flowers, Beads and Rhinestones Couture SetBy Emanuel UngaroLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRUngaro -Haute Couture set consisting of a skirt, jacket and belt fully embroidered with flowers, beads and rhinestones. No label of composition or size indicated, it corresponds to a...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Twin Sets
- Yves Saint Laurent Black Skirt SuitBy Yves Saint LaurentLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRYves Saint Laurent - (Made in France) Black skirt suit. Size 38FR. Additional information: Dimensions: Jacket: Shoulder width: 43 cm, Sleeve length: 54 cm, Length: 57 cm Skirt: Si...Category
1990s French Twin Sets
- Emilio Pucci Wool and Multicolored Geometric Printed SuitBy Emilio PucciLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRPucci -(Made in Italy) Suit made of wool and multicolored geometric printed fabric. Size 38FR. To note, several stains on the jersey. Additional information: Dimensions: Jacket: Sh...Category
Early 2000s Italian Twin Sets
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.