An Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche bag in leather and suede Saharienne Circa 1995
View Similar Items
An Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche bag in leather and suede Saharienne Circa 1995
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Height: 6.7 in (17 cm)Length: 11.82 in (30 cm)Marked Size: 30 cm x 17 cm x 6 cm. Handle 27 (EU)
- Style:1995 (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Excellent condition and color.
- Seller Location:Toulon, FR
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU63336381391
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.
- Art Deco Reticule Purse in taffeta and beads- France Circa 1925Located in Toulon, FRCirca 1925 France Beautiful reticule or purse in black taffeta and embroidery with pearls in iridescent gray marcasite dating from the Art Deco period. Double pocket tightened by a cream cord...Category
1920s French Top Handle Bags
- A precious red Leather Reticule with tortoiseshell inlay - England Dated 1836Located in Toulon, FRDated 1836 England Rare inlaid tortoiseshell red "Maroquin" Reticule dating from the period of King William IV, before Queen Victoria's accession to the English throne in 1837. Inside is a moving and difficult-to-read ball book dated 1836. It is a miraculously preserved reticule with three gussets in scarlet red morocco, finely engraved with neo-Gothic friezes in the shape of scallops. In the centre on both sides a blond tortoiseshell plate...Category
1830s English Evening Bags and Minaudières
- A Paco Rabanne Evening Clutch in Khaki Leather and Pads Circa 1968By Paco RabanneLocated in Toulon, FRCirca 1968 France Evening clutch or small shoulder bag in khaki leather and Crocodile imitation pads from the famous Designer House Paco Rabanne around 1968. Suede leather background covered with large brown crocodile leather pads. Original handle in chain of twisted aluminum rings. Vintage zipper and partially missing interior label with the logo of the famous designer house. Edge very slightly frayed on 0.5 cm at the corners, some rings...Category
1960s French Bucket Bags and Drawstring Bags
- An Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Bag in Black Patent Vinyl Circa 1990By Yves Saint LaurentLocated in Toulon, FRCirca 1990/2000 France Vintage handbag in black patent vinyl imitating scratched skin by Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche from the late 2000s. Inspired by the 1940s and Saharan spirit...Category
1990s French Top Handle Bags
- A French Empire Reticule in Leather and Steel beads - France Circa 1795-1815Located in Toulon, FRCirca 1795/1815 France Rare Violin-shaped reticule in embossed morocco, sequins and polished steel beads, complete with its original chain and dating from the first quarter of the 1...Category
1790s French Wallets
- A Christian Lacroix Plaid Wool Jacket Circa 1990By Christian LacroixLocated in Toulon, FRCirca 1990 France Jacket by Christian Lacroix Paris 90s in brown wool and hound of wine, mauve and buff. Small epaulettes. Velvet ribbons, gold metal and wool are applied to the rig...Category
1980s French Dinner Jackets
- S/S 2005 Versace by Donatella Micro/Mini Ocean Themed Duffle BagBy Donatella Versace, Gianni VersaceLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting an adorable micro Versace Boston style bag, designed by Donatella Versace. The same print is seen on the S/S 2005 runway on looks 33 and 37 a...Category
Early 2000s Italian Evening Bags and Minaudières
- Edwardian Jeweled Pale Green Trinity Plate Needlepoint Minaudière Handbag, 1900sLocated in Tucson, AZEqually as coveted by the well-bred Victorienne as by the gin-baby flapper, Trinity Plate reticules and minaudières were THE accessory of choice for fash...Category
Early 1900s American Evening Bags and Minaudières
- Gilded Etched Gold Tone Hardware Frame Micro Beaded "Roses" HandbagLocated in New York, NYMagnificent detailed etched gilded gold tone vermeil hardware frame is accented with multi-color rhinestones highlighted with two Swans on top of the beautiful hardware frame ...Category
1950s French Evening Bags and Minaudières
- Exceptional 1920's Czech Egyptian Revival Jeweled Mesh PurseLocated in New York, NYWonderful, large 1920's Czech Jeweled Mesh Purse of the largest scale and finest quality relined by famed, Art Bag of Madison Ave. NY. Jeweled frame with faux lapis pate de verre mol...Category
1920s Czech Evening Bags and Minaudières
- Josef Attrib. Silk Brocade Chinoiserie Handbag w Cabochon Studded Flap, 1950sBy Bags by JosefLocated in Tucson, AZSubtly striking, this exquisite silk handbag features a muted Chinoiserie motif that would be remarkable on its own were it not upstaged by its unique figured brass top lid, which is...Category
1950s French Evening Bags and Minaudières
- Chanel Waist Classic Flap Rare Vintage 90s Limited Edition Micro Mini Bronze BagBy ChanelLocated in Miami, FLChanel Rare Vintage 90's Limited Edition Micro Mini Classic Flap Bag 1991 {VINTAGE 33 Years} Gold Hardware Bronze quilted lambskin leather CC Turnlock Leather lined interior 3.9" W ...Category
1990s Italian Evening Bags and Minaudières
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.