NOT AN ORDINARY MAN – YVES SAINT LAURENT

“We must never confuse elegance with snobbery” – said Yves Saint Laurent.

These words were part of his never written personal manifesto of ethics and esthetics. As a young and fragile boy, born in French Algeria, he told herself repeatedly that one day Yves will be famous. On his ninth birthday he has blown out candles and imagined that his name will be written on the Champs Elysees. On the other side, in the school he was bullied for showing homosexual tendencies but his young and creative spirit found solace in making paper dolls dressed in various shapes, colors and fabrics.

 “I prefer to shock rather than to bore through repetition” – said designer twenty years later and it became true.

At the age of 17 he moved to Paris to study Fashion Design at Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. “I have often said that I wish I had invented blue jeans: the most spectacular, the most practical, the most relaxed and nonchalant. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity – all I hope for in my clothes” – said Yves.

French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent with a group of models, circa 1960. (Photo: Getty Images)

It is fact that he didn’t invent blue jeans but one of his wishes became true – women to have same basic wardrobe as a man – trousers, blazer and suit. Very soon as a passionate designer he entered the studio of Christian Dior and was appointed as Dior’s design assistant. Yves understands that without elegance of heart there is no elegance. He has this elegance, Christian Dior, too. From a show window decorator young designer switched to the protégé of Christian Dior. “He was both an extraordinary designer and an extraordinary man. For me, he was very much like a father” – said iconic designer.

After Dior’s death he was 21 and totally devastated. Dior’s death wish was Saint Laurent to become his successor. In 1958 Young designer had only ten weeks to transform sketches to “Trapeze Collection”. Thousands were on the streets of Paris to see the new collection. It was a huge and an extraordinary success. Vogue defined it as “ the most important and fully formulated line in Paris”. French press had an impressive headline: “ Saint Laurent has saved France”. Yes, Yves saved Dior’s house but lost his soul. In 1960 he was drafted to the French army to fight for Algeria’s independence. His soul was broken in million pieces – total mental and physical breakdown. One bad news broke him totally – in his absence, his former assistant Marc Bohan was approved to become Head designer at Dior. Then appeared his soul mate, angel and his business back up – Pierre Berge. “Every young designer needs a Pierre Bergé by their side” – rumored in the fashion world. “Of course, those designers are quite wrong when they say they need me,” Mr. Berge has said in return. “What they need is to be Yves Saint Laurent.” Famous duo, Saint Laurent and Berge, built the YSL empire.

The fashion industry became richer with YSL “Le Smoking Tuxedo”, “Cigaline” blouse, “Pea Coat”, over 150 products following an extended collection of accessories and perfumes including the aptly named ‘Y’ and ‘Opium’ fragrances. In 1966 he was the first ever couture designer to turn his attention away from the exclusive ateliers and move to “ready to wear”. In 1983, fashion goddess Diana Vreeland organised a retrospective of Yves Saint Laurent’s work at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Thanks to this living genius thousands came from all over the world to see the exhibition. Yves Saint Laurent became famous with his jet set’s circles with Gettys, Rothschilds and Jaggers – Bianca Jagger, Talitha Getty and Marianne Faithfull all wore Saint Laurent. He responded to the young customers and in Seventies and Eighties he was favoured by the nice and modern people. His addiction to the guilty pleasures as drug and alcohol were so visible that once one popular radio informed that the iconic designer passed away.

Yves Saint Laurent, couturier chez Christian Dior, photographié devant un motif de décoration de Noël à la maison Christian Dior en deuil, à Paris, France le 17 novembre 1957(Photo: Getty Images)

Once Saint Laurent shared that the most exciting thing in contemporary fashion was the fact that there are “no more rules, the freedom of dressing, the beauty of mixing vintage clothes with a pair of jeans that I love“.Yves Saint Laurent died on 1st June 2008 in Paris. There is no doubt that he has left a spectacular legacy that would continue to inspire and influence designers for many years. Because it is true that “Fashions fade, style is eternal.”