RIP: Yves Saint Laurent
June 2, 2008
The fashion world mourns the death of what is probably the most iconic designers in the industry – Yves Saint Laurent. Saint Laurent, 71, died Sunday night at his Paris home after a yearlong battle with brain cancer.
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Born on Aug. 1, 1936, in Oran, Algeria, Saint Laurent first emerged as a promising designer at age 17, winning first prize in a contest sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat for a cocktail dress design.
A year later, in 1954, he enrolled at the Chambre Syndicale school of haute couture lasting only for three months in the school. He was then introduced to Christian Dior, then regarded as the greatest creator of his day, and Dior was so impressed with Saint Laurent’s talent that he hired him on the spot.
When Dior died suddenly in 1957, Saint Laurent was named head of the House of Dior at age 21. In 1962, Saint Laurent opened his own haute couture fashion house with partner, Pierre Berge.
In a remarkable five-decade career, Saint Laurent empowered a generation of women; his ground-breaking brainwave of putting women in masculine yet chic tuxedoes was a defining moment in fashion. Saint Laurent’s designs celebrated the growing empowerment of women and their increasing sexual liberation, dressing them in thigh-high leather boots, see-through blouses and his legendary black tuxedos, or “le smoking” as the French referred to them. Saint Laurent was also the first designer to use black models, in another example of his path-breaking role in fashion. He was also the first designer to put women in safari jackets and Beatnik looks, items that seem so familiar now, but when first displayed on his catwalks scandalized the general public.
We will forever remember this true icon and the fashion world has definitely lost one of its most celebrated and legendary icons of the 20th century.
news source: The Associated Press
photo credit: google images
