1980s Yves Saint Laurent Défilé Haute Couture Necklace
View Similar Items
1980s Yves Saint Laurent Défilé Haute Couture Necklace
About the Item
- Creator:
- Metal:
- Dimensions:Width: 2.75 in (69.85 mm)Length: 22 in (558.8 mm)
- Place of Origin:France
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1980s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: AU13110953019
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.
- 1970s Gucci Enameled Silver ChainBy GucciLocated in New York, NYThink of Jetsetter's and Studio 54, while wearing this long chic 1970s Gucci chain of sterling silver, featuring blue enameled "G's." 3/8 inch at it's widest and 34 inches long. Marked Gucci and Italy, with silver and bench marks.Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Chain Necklaces
MaterialsSterling Silver
- 1920s Elegant Art Deco French Paste BraceletLocated in New York, NYA grand piece of 1920s Art Deco "traveling jewelry" made in the style of fine jewelry. A silver and French paste bracelet imitating diamonds and emeralds. Spring closure, with 2 orig...Category
Early 20th Century French Art Deco Clamper Bracelets
MaterialsGilt Metal
- JR 3.14 Carat Rose Cut Diamond Dangling 18 Karat White Gold Choker NecklaceBy JR DiamLocated in Hong Kong, HKJR 3.14 Carat Rose Cut Diamond Dangling Choker Necklace Dress your neck with our beautiful choker made with exquisite diamonds. This fancy piece is classy yet modern. It has slider...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Hong Kong Modern Link Necklaces
MaterialsDiamond, 18k Gold, White Gold
$5,005 Sale Price30% OffFree Shipping - 7.34 Carat Emerald & Diamond Chain Necklace in 18k White GoldBy GEM PLAZALocated in Jaipur, Rajasthan7.34 Carat Emerald & Diamond Chain Necklace in 18k White Gold White Gold studded with mix cut Emerald pieces. Accessorize your look with this elegant Clear Emerald chain necklace. ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modernist Chain Necklaces
MaterialsDiamond, Emerald, 18k Gold, White Gold
- Giovane Large Link Diamond NecklaceBy GiovaneLocated in New York, NYGiovani large link diamond necklace in 18k white gold. the necklace is set pave set with rose cut diamonds weighing total of approx 125ct. Length 16". W...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Artist Link Necklaces
MaterialsDiamond, 18k Gold
- 27 carat Tennis NecklaceLocated in Dublin, IE22" Tennis necklace in white gold with 150 round diamonds in 4 prong set. D27.14ct.t.wCategory
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Link Necklaces
MaterialsWhite Diamond, Platinum
- Michel McNabb for Basha Gold Blue Bean Sugar Coat Stripe Enamel Silver NecklaceLocated in Boca Raton, FLMichel McNabb is an artisan jewelry designer based in West Palm Beach, practicing masterful techniques and intricate, centuries old metallurgy processes....Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Artist Link Necklaces
MaterialsSterling Silver, Copper, Enamel
- Beauvince Bridget 3 Stone Ring (10.31 ct Emerald Cut GIA Diamond) in PlatinumBy Beauvince JewelryLocated in New York, NYA bold and daring ring designed and created for a power person, this 10 carat Emerald Ring with baguette accents is a statement and emerald cut l...Category
2010s Link Necklaces
MaterialsDiamond, White Diamond, Platinum
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.