Yves Saint Laurent - history of the brand. Love stories

Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint Laurent (French Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent; August 1, 1936, Oran, Algeria - June 1, 2008, Paris, France) - one of the leading French of the twentieth century. Considered the founder of the style. He became the first to use black models in his shows.

Biography and career

Yves Saint Laurent was born on August 1, 1936 in Algeria to Charles and Lucienne André Mathieu Saint Laurent. The boy grew up in a Mediterranean villa with two younger sisters, Michelle and Brigitte. Since childhood, Yves loved to tinker with paper dolls, and in adolescence began to design outfits for his mother and sisters.

When a young man turns 18, he leaves for Paris, where he easily entered the School of Paris, and also began working as an independent designer.

That same year, he entered three of his works into a competition for young designers organized by the International Wool Secretariat. Tall, thin and shy, Yves Saint Laurent charmed the commission and won the competition, although he still had to share the victory with another young fashion designer from Germany. This is how a feud began between Yves Saint Laurent and him, which lasted for decades.

In December, at an awards ceremony, Yves Saint Laurent met Michel de Brunhoff, then editor-in-chief of French, who immediately noted the young man’s design talent.

A year later, the young man again took part in the Wolmark competition and this time won single-handedly, leaving behind both his friend Fernando Sanchez and his main rival Karl Lagerfeld.

After his victory, Yves Saint Laurent decides to show some of his designs to Michel de Brunhoff. Having seen the sketches, the editor finds a lot in them common features with drawings that he showed him that same morning. Marveling at this coincidence, Michel de Brunhoff immediately referred the young man to Dior, who in turn, without hesitation, hired Laurent.

“Dior fascinated me. When he appeared in front of me, I was speechless. He taught me the basics of my art. No matter what happened in my life later, I never forgot the years I spent next to him.”

Despite the fact that Dior almost immediately recognized Laurent as a future master, the young man spent a whole year doing rather modest work, such as studio decoration and design. However, after some time, he was given the honor of developing sketches for the collection. With each new season, Dior approves more and more more ideas Yves Saint Laurent. In August 1957, he specially meets with his mother young man to tell her that he had decided to choose her son as his successor. Laurent's mother later admitted that this statement embarrassed her extremely, because Dior was only 52 years old at that time. However, after a few months, everyone was surprised to learn that the great died of a severe heart attack in one of the sports and fitness complexes in Northern Italy.

So, at the age of 21, Yves Saint Laurent becomes the head of one of the most famous Fashion Houses in the world. Despite his youth, Laurent still managed to meet the expectations of his patron. His spring 1958 collection saved him from seemingly imminent financial ruin. The collection was characterized by straight lines forming trapezoidal shapes, in which many critics saw a softer version of Dior's.

"This guy will save Haute Couture"

— the French press wrote about Willow.

At the same time, the designer shortened his surname to simply “Saint Laurent”, since international media found his triple name too difficult to spell.

In the same 1958, Laurent's second collection was released, but it not only did not receive previous praise, but was even subject to some attacks. The reason was the narrow long skirts present in the collection with an interception below the knees (the so-called hobble skirts, from the English hobble - to limp), as well as motifs characteristic of beatnik fashion. However, already in the same year Yves Saint Laurent is awarded the Neiman Marcus Prize.

In 1959, Farah Diba, then a Parisian student, marries the Shah of Iran and asks Yves Saint Laurent to sew her a wedding dress.

In 1960, the designer was called to military service and sent to the front in Africa, where the Algerian War of Independence was going on at that time. According to rumors, Marcel Boussac himself, the owner of the Fashion House, insisted on this, thereby wanting to get rid of the unwanted designer.

The young man spent only 20 days in military service, after which he suffered a nervous attack. In the hospital, Laurent learns that he has been fired from Dior., and this news completely undermined his psychological health. Yves is demobilized from the army and sent to Val-de-Grâce for treatment. There, the young man is pumped with sedatives and other psychotropic drugs, and also undergoes courses of electroconvulsive therapy. All this, according to Yves Saint Laurent himself, subsequently led to his deepest mental disorder and problems with drugs.

In November 1960, he was discharged from the hospital, after which Yves Saint Laurent sued Dior for breach of contract and won the case.

Founding of the Yves Saint Laurent brand

In 1961, Yves Saint Laurent met his future lover Pierre Berger, with whom he founded his own company, "" with the money of Atlanta millionaire J. Mac Robinson. Berger remains loyal to the very end business partner Laurana.

During the 60s and 70s, Laurent was at the center of fashion events, creating black leather jackets, turtleneck sweaters, short skirts, pantsuits, transparent, in style, etc.

Saint Laurent's first independent collection was released in 1962. In 1964 he released his first fragrance, “Y”. In 1965, a collection based on the paintings of Piet Mondrian was published. In 1966, Laurent, for the first time in fashion history, offered tuxedos for women, which would later become a distinctive brand of the brand. In 1971, the first men's fragrance was released, for advertising campaign of which Yves Saint Laurent stars nude. In 1977, Opium perfume appeared, the sale of which was banned in many countries, since some authorities saw hidden drug propaganda in its name. However, this did not prevent the fragrance from enjoying worldwide success.

Yves Saint Laurent becomes the first designer to launch a full-fledged line.

In addition, he becomes the first European designer who dared to use ethnic motifs of other cultures in his projects, as well as the first fashion designer who was not afraid to show his outfits on dark-skinned models.

Despite the fact that not all of Yves Saint Laurent's collections received rave reviews from the press, in the 60s and 70s he was considered one of the elite of French fashion. The designer was a regular at legendary clubs in Paris and New York, such as Regine’s and Studio 54, where he gained a reputation as an alcoholic and cocaine lover.

By this time, Yves Saint Laurent is developing not only 2 haute couture collections, but also 2 ready-to-wear collections every year. Such a load, coupled with common problems with health, ultimately lead to the fact that the designer begins to abuse drugs more and more. It comes to the point that at some shows he only has enough strength to get down from the floor, but the models themselves actually pulled him back under the arms.

Later years and death

In 1981, the fashion designer was awarded an award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and in 1983, Yves Saint Laurent became the first designer to whom an exhibition was dedicated during his lifetime at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In 1985 he was awarded the title of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, and in 2001, President Jacques Chirac awarded him the title of Commander of the Legion of Honor.

In 1987, the ill-fated ready-to-wear line was released, where jackets in the “” style were decorated with diamonds worth 100 thousand dollars. The show was held just a few days after the collapse stock exchange, an event that later became known as “Black Monday”. In this regard, the luxury that reigned in the collection seemed simply inappropriate to many. Disappointed, Yves Saint Laurent placed control of the line in the hands of his assistants, in particular, after which critics began to find it “boring”.

In 2002, Yves Saint Laurent finally retired and increasingly moved away from the world., living a reclusive life in his private homes in France and Morocco with his beloved bulldog named Man.

In 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy awarded Yves Saint Laurent the title of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor.

The outstanding French designer dies on June 1, 2008 in his Paris apartment from brain cancer. According to newspaper The New York Times, a few days before his death, Yves Saint Laurent entered into a same-sex civil union with Pierre Berger.

The fashion designer's funeral took place in the Paris Catholic Church of St. Roch. Laurent's body was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Moroccan garden of Majorelle, which the designer often visited during his lifetime in search of inspiration.

In 2010, a large-scale retrospective exhibition dedicated to creative path French couturier.

Throughout his life, Yves Saint Laurent had many beloved clients, and, of course, his muses were always women. One of them was a supermodel, whom Laurent himself once called “the woman of dreams.” The others were Loulou de la Falaise, Betty Catroux, Talitha Paul-Getty, Catherine Deneuve, Nicole Dorier, Katusha Nian, Rebecca Aeko and Laetitia Casta.

Yves Saint Laurent is responsible for many inventions in the field of fashion. Exactly he gave the world low-heeled pumps with a square toe and a metal buckle, geometric black and white graphic patterns, dresses that have no sleeves or collar. When designing women's outfits, the designer often borrowed elements from the men's wardrobe. Thanks to him, the ladies dressed in trouser business suits, but the main “ business card"and the women's tuxedo will forever remain a symbol of his unique style.

Despite all his services to fashion, Yves Saint Laurent continued to remain a deeply unhappy and lonely man until his death.

“Unfortunately, Yves was not created for joy. He was an unhappy man with no taste for life. Of course, sometimes he had happy moments, however, in general he found life very difficult. He was overcome by constant depression."

- Pierre Berger.

Famous sayings

• Over the years, I realized that the most important thing in a dress is the woman who wears it.
• In this life, I regret only one thing - that I didn’t invent jeans.
• Clothes should be subordinated to the woman's personality, and not vice versa.
• Love is the best cosmetics. But it’s easier to buy cosmetics.
• My dresses are designed for women who can afford to travel with forty suitcases.
• One “beautiful” day it was announced on the radio that I had died. Crowds of journalists rushed towards me. I had to say that it was all a lie: here I am, alive and almost healthy. But for some reason they didn’t want to believe me at all, although they saw me with their own eyes.
• The best clothing for a woman is the embrace of a man who loves her. But for those who are deprived of such happiness, there is me.

Bianca Jagger interviews Yves Saint Laurent (January 1973)

DB:What's on your mind, Yves?
ISL: Many things…

DB:And everyone is super nice?
ISL: Can not say.

DB:Do you think it will be comfortable to talk while standing next to this machine? Not the best place.
ISL: I'd like to sit somewhere.

DB:Voila! What a wonderful place, Monsignor Yves Saint Laurent! (laughs).
ISL: Miss Jay (both laugh).

DB:Why did you choose women as your source of inspiration? Were you hoping to discover something new? Did they disappoint you during your work?
ISL: Disappointed? Not at all! Of course not. Absolutely impossible.

DB: Do you think you're doing a good job? Are you giving everything you want to give?
ISL: Women?

DB: Do you have a particular image of a woman that occupies a dominant position in your imagination?
ISL: No, because I never tried to find one ideal woman. I have a lot of them.

DB: Several ideal women?
ISL: Yes. For me every new model, which I imagine, is the prototype of the ideal woman...

DB:If you weren't a designer, what would you do?
ISL: Lived

DB: Did the people you were emotionally close to influence your work in any way?
ISL: Yes, and there were quite a lot of such people.

DB:Have they changed your view of women?
ISL: Yes, and radically so. Many women with whom I communicated quite closely, as well as close friends, at one time made very significant changes to my previous vision. So, for example, after I met Talitha Getty, Talitha - do you know her?

DB: Yes.
ISL:...my idea of ​​women has changed completely.

DB: Did she influence your idea of ​​a woman?
ISL: Yes, completely and completely.

DB: Have men had a similar influence on your work?
ISL: Never and under no circumstances.

DB: Not even a bit?
ISL: No.

DB: No! However, from time to time, women appeared in your life who became your... perfect inspiration.
ISL: What's true is true. There are women who literally changed the way I look at fashion, and if I hadn't exposed them back in the day, I would never have reached the level that I have now.

DB:What do you do when you have to dress a woman who cannot boast of either a pretty face or beauty of form?
ISL: I try to avoid these poor things. I like it when circumstances are more favorable.

DB: Do you separate male and female female images? These two genders? Or are both extensions of the same thing for you? Or maybe a woman is generally an ambiguous creature for you?
ISL: Why do you keep asking me about women? Because I'm a couturier?

DB:No, it's more general question. You work with people, define them...
ISL: No.

DB:No?
ISL: This is absolutely not true.

DB:I was talking about...
ISL: No. To me they are just people I work with. I love them, I am attracted to them, physically or spiritually. However, I have never tried to classify them in any way.

DB: Do you like brave people?
ISL: Yes, sure.

DB:What about people who talk about fashion?
ISL: Well, of course. I can't stand them. I generally hate fashion as such. I love making clothes, but I hate fashion.

DB: And also talking about her...
ISL: Yes (both laugh).

DB:Then I need to think about what else to talk to you about. I really like the way you work, because you have a kind of hypersensitivity.
ISL: Yes Yes.

DB: …And so you always look for beauty in everything you do.
ISL: Yes, I am in constant search. I'm a great esthete.

DB: You are looking not just for beauty, but for perfection. Do you know about this?
ISL: Certainly. And I can't refuse this.

DB: Have you ever felt like you were cheated?
ISL: Nobody has ever deceived me because I don't care about people.

DB: Do you look for any special qualities in people?
ISL: No, because ultimately I'm only interested in how I see these people myself. I project my idea of ​​their personality onto them. If I'm wrong about something, it concerns only myself. All that matters to me is what I see in my mind's eye, not what actually is.

DB:What I admire most about you is that you always give people some credit.
ISL: I always do this with everyone I come into contact with.

DB: What do you think of Erta?
ISL: Oh, I just adore him. He's amazing. I feel that we are close in spirit, and I do not have any feelings of jealousy towards him.

DB:I know. And this is another reason why I admire you.
ISL: I always know exactly what I'm doing and what I like.

DB:This is such a rarity in your fashion world, where most people are quite insecure.
ISL: And you have studied me quite well (laughs).

DB: I'm good at observing. I realized that you strive to be above material things. You live in your own imaginary world.
ISL: Yes it is possible. This is definitely true. I probably would even like to have more points of contact with reality. I feel like I've become a little distant from the world. However, I like to take the place of an outside observer.

DB:Was there a woman, or maybe women, in your life whom you truly loved?
ISL: Yes. One or two.

DB: What did they mean to you?
ISL: There was nothing aesthetic in our relationship. In the sense that they were never my muses. For me it was a completely new feeling, and it was in no way related to fashion.

DB:Has this feeling influenced your creative activity?
ISL: No, I would never love a woman who could not interest me in anything. And also a woman with whom we would be connected during creative or work moments, because otherwise I would feel like I was taking something important away from her.

DB:What do you think about this country? About America?
ISL: I just adore her. A very extravagant, new country.

DB: Don't you feel a little out of place here?
ISL: No and you?

DB: A little.
ISL: I like to communicate with people in a homely atmosphere. I live very isolated and often feel lonely.

DB:I like America, but everything here surprises me. It feels like the local society is just beginning its climb up the social ladder.
ISL: But people here are exactly the same as everywhere else. There are so many extraordinary personalities here.

DB:There are so many creative people here because there is a lot of competition.
ISL: The people here seem much closer to each other. You feel a real invisible connection even between strangers.

DB:Do you like it?
ISL: Oh yes, because I myself am very timid.

DB: I always get a little lost when people try to get under my skin after just a few minutes of meeting me. It happens that I instantly warm to a new person, and this does not depend on the country where he comes from. However, while I have not yet figured out whether I like this person or not, excessive pressure is scary.
ISL: It all depends on the circumstances. There are professions where fanatical devotion strangers is only beneficial.

DB:However, you also need to get used to this.
ISL: That's for sure (both laugh).

DB:Are you annoyed by overly intrusive women?
ISL: On the contrary, I adore them very much.

DB:And they don't even bother you?
ISL: Not at all.

DB:You reached the highest level of fame at a very early age. Did this upset you?
ISL: Maybe. I would like to get acquainted with other things - more interesting, more real and not so superficial.

DB:What else would you like to do after you leave modeling?
ISL: After that? I would like... I would really like to write... More precisely, I would really like to write a book. Very very beautiful book, in which I would talk about everything that I love so much, reflect on life, men, women and beauty... Something like a memoir. However, right now I still don't have the right amount of patience that needs to be spent on this. I'm waiting for the right time.

DB:You should start doing this right now.
ISL: Now I can take notes.

DB: IN do you always do them? Do you type at night?
ISL: Something like that, although in reality everything happens a little differently.

DB:I've seen some of your gorgeous drawings. Has it ever occurred to you to publish them?
ISL: It came.

DB:And when will this happen?
ISL: I have no idea.

DB:Do you want to publish a book...
ISL: In any case, there is still very little material, but I really want to publish them. It's quite difficult. I don’t know yet how this can be done, because you saw for yourself, there is quite a lot of eroticism there.

DB:You have dared many things in life, dare this too. Beauty is beauty.
ISL: Without a doubt (laughs).

Yves Saint Laurent Saint Laurent) – this name is known to everyone, even those who are not familiar with the world of high fashion. He was a great fashion designer, fashion artist, a man who changed the course of the history of the fashion industry.
The brilliant fashion designer Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint Laurent was born in 1936 in Algeria, in the city of Oran. His family were hereditary lawyers, but the boy was only interested in working with fabric. Even in at a young age he created sketches and sewed doll-sized dresses.
When the family of the future fashion designer moved to Paris, by that time Yves had graduated from school and began working part-time as a clothing designer and stylist. He was a regular participant in design competitions. In 1953, he managed to take third place in one of these competitions and met the editor-in-chief of the French division of Vogue magazine.
He advised Yves Saint Laurent to enroll in a design course, and after some time introduced him to the famous fashion designer Christian Dior. A year later, the young designer showed his first collection at a fashion competition in Germany and won three out of seven awards, beating up-and-coming German young designer Karl Lagerfeld. From that moment on, a long-term rivalry between the two fashion designers began.

Yves Saint Laurent. Fashion designer career

Christian Dior took on 19-year-old Laurent as his junior assistant at the House of Dior. While working under the guidance of the maestro, Yves Saint Laurent created sketches of exquisite accessories, which he showed to Dior. From year to year, more and more sketches were realized and demonstrated on the podium.
Yves Saint Laurent was 21 years old when Christan Dior died. He takes the place of mentor and becomes the chief designer of the House of Dior. Becoming an heir legendary fashion designer, Saint Laurent presents its first collection. He introduced the “trapezoid” shape, which freed the women’s wardrobe from excessive pretentiousness and a strict waist. This became a revolution in fashion, and the press wrote about this event that “the great traditions of the House of Dior continue to live” even after the death of the head of the company.
At that time, Yves Saint Laurent achieved stunning success. However, thanks to his rebellious spirit, his career was doomed to ups and downs. In 1960, the fashion designer presented his new collection called Beatnik. The main attributes of the show were luxurious mink coats with narrow knitted sleeves, suits with turtlenecks and short leather jackets. It was defiantly luxurious, but the House of Dior was not ready for such changes.
Dior's overly conservative management fired Yves Saint Laurent and hired another designer in his place. This was a strong blow for him, which Pierre Berger helped him cope with. Together they also managed to sue a huge sum for illegal termination of the contract with the House of Dior. It was Pierre Berger who was destined to become Saint Laurent's friend, support and lover for life.
After Yves Saint Laurent left Dior, he joined the army, but the fragile and sensual guy could not stand even a year and ended up in the psychiatric ward of a military hospital, which broke him. But even here Pierre Berger came to the rescue.
With the money won in court, Saint Laurent opens his own fashion house, Yves Saint Laurent. From that moment on, a great story began under the sign of three golden letters - YSL.
Today there are 7 distinctive looks of the YSL House:
1. Mondrian dresses with a characteristic decor in the form of large colored cells
2. Safari style
3. Woman suit tuxedo style
4. Pantsuit
5. Thin transparent shirt
6. Long and loose skirt combined with a caftan (“Russian Seasons”)
7. Ethno-African motifs in clothing
In 1966, the first YSL Rive Gauche pret-a-porter boutique opened. It was the first boutique of its kind in the history of the fashion industry. Everything was displayed there: clothes, jewelry, accessories and perfume. The fashion house Yves Saint Laurent began to generate millions in revenue and turned into an empire.
But since the late 80s, the Yves Saint Laurent brand experienced a real crisis. I had to sell part of the shares to third-party companies, which had a very bad effect on the quality of execution. Suffering from multiple illnesses, drug addiction and an unhealthy lifestyle, Yves Saint Laurent handed over the leadership of the company to fashion designer Albert Elbaz, and then left the fashion world to lead a secluded lifestyle and rarely appear in public.
The legendary fashion designer and designer Yves Saint Laurent died on June 1, 2008 in Paris. He had brain cancer.

Yves Saint Laurent. Personal life

The talented fashion designer devoted almost his entire life to high fashion. He was almost always busy drawing sketches and creating new models. In his spare time, Yves loved to pose for his friend's paintings. He could also often be found in fashionable clubs.
While still young, Yves Saint Laurent became addicted to grass and soft drugs. This greatly affected his well-being and health. Perhaps, with a different lifestyle, he would still be alive today.
The fact that he was in a psychiatric hospital also had a strong impact. The fashion designer suffered from manic-depressive syndrome, he was very worried about it, and it caused him a lot of suffering.
The love of the couturier’s life has always been one single man - Pierre Berger.

This man helped him in literally everything; they lived, worked and rested together. One day Berger cheated on him with a fashion model. Laurent responded by betraying him with Jacques De Bascher. After this they separated, but continued to work together.

This man's full name is Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint Laurent. Born in colonial Algeria, into a wealthy French family. The father of the future couturier dreamed of a career as a lawyer for his son, especially since Yves studied well at school. But the younger Saint Laurent was not happy with this prospect, and he found an ally in his mother. He doubted which profession would suit him better—a theater artist or a fashion designer. When the young man was in high school, his mother, the beautiful Lucienne, brought her son to Paris for the first time. Using her connections, she organized a meeting for her son with Michel de Brunoff, editor-in-chief of Paris Vogue. After getting acquainted with Saint Laurent's sketches, Brunoff realized that the young man definitely had a gift for fashion design that needed further development.

After graduating from school (in 1954, he was then 18 years old), Yves came to Paris, entered fashion school and in the fall of the same year participated in a competition for young fashion designers. As a result, he won the top prize for his design of a cocktail dress with an unusual asymmetrical neckline. By the way, the young German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, who participated in the same competition, took the prize for the coat he designed.

Michel de Brunoff continued to participate in the fate of his protégé - he regularly looked at his sketches, gave advice, introduced him to the right people. One day, Yves brought in a series of fresh sketches, and de Brunoff was extremely surprised to see a striking resemblance to the sketches for the collection of his friend Christian Dior, although Dior had never shown it before general public. De Brunoff called the great couturier and convinced him to meet with Saint Laurent. The result of this significant meeting for the 18-year-old fashion designer was an invitation to work at the house of Dior. Yves Saint Laurent's work was appreciated, and very soon he became right hand masters Soon he declared him his heir. In September 1957, Dior went on vacation, leaving the fashion house in the care of Saint Laurent. Dior suffered a heart attack, as a result of which his life was cut short, and he never returned from vacation.

Saint Laurent slightly modified the traditional Dior style and in January 1958 presented his first independent collection to the public. He proposed new shift dresses with a loose silhouette. Newspapers immediately announced that the 21-year-old fashion designer had saved French fashion. The success of the new collection led to an immediate increase in sales for the house of Dior by 35%.

However, clouds soon began to gather over the young couturier. The owner of the house of Dior, textile magnate Marcel Boussac, doubted the creative direction chosen by Yves Saint Laurent. Many conservatives were alarmed by the experiments of the “little prince” in crossing high style with a more democratic street fashion. The public's delight subsided: she greeted the next five collections much more calmly.

In 1960, Saint Laurent was drafted into military service. There were rumors that Boussac had arranged for him to be drafted into the army. But Saint Laurent spent only two weeks there: the shock of the sudden change in situation caused a severe nervous breakdown. The result was two and a half months of the fashion designer’s life in a Parisian mental hospital. This time did not pass without a trace for his career. Returning to Dior's house, Saint Laurent discovered that the management had found a replacement for him in the person of another young genius - Marc Bohan. Yves was offered a new, more modest position: he had to monitor compliance with the terms of licenses issued by the company in England. Saint Laurent was offended by these changes in his absence. He filed a lawsuit against the house of Dior, winning $24 thousand. This money became the foundation on which he decided, together with his friend Pierre Berger, to found own house models. Berger also enlisted the support of American millionaire Mack Robinson, who allocated money to promote the new enterprise.

The official opening of Yves Saint Laurent's own fashion house happened in December 1961. At the same time, the couturier said: “I moved from the world of fabrics and proportions to the world of silhouettes and lines.” This is how the democratic ready-to-wear fashion began.

Paris was eagerly awaiting the first collection with the YSL logo with bated breath. Many predicted failure, but the gloomy forecasts did not come true - the show ended with an ovation, everyone was happy.

Since then, Yves Saint Laurent's career has taken off again. Almost every year he proposed new ideas, which ultimately changed modern fashion beyond recognition. Among his innovations were the raincoat jacket, which appeared in 1962, vinyl raincoats in 1965, and in 1966, women's trouser suits, peacoats, striped T-shirt dresses and the famous ladies' tuxedos. It was a real revolution in women's wardrobe. IN next year his collection included safari-style suits with patch pockets, overalls and - as an alternative - transparent dresses.

Since 1966, Saint Laurent began to release every year, in addition to two collections of exclusive haute couture clothing, two more collections of ready-to-wear Rive Gauche. He was the first to predict that the ready-to-wear market would eventually become the leading sector of the fashion industry. Saint Laurent’s success is best explained by the words of Coco Chanel, who, like Christian Dior, proclaimed him her successor: “Everyone thinks about the transience of fashion, but Yves Saint Laurent thinks about modern clothes for a woman of the second half of the 20th century." This practicality led Saint Laurent to financial success, which, however, turned out to be short-lived.

Thanks to the entrepreneurial talents of Pierre Berger, the Yves Saint Laurent fashion house turned into a multimillion-dollar empire in the 70s. It was not only clothing that brought profit, but also related products- perfumes, jewelry, bags. As for perfumes, Opium became one of the perfume bestsellers of all time, glorifying both the YSL brand and its ideological inspirer. But since the late 80s, a crisis began at YSL. To improve matters, Pierre Berger began actively selling licenses to use the YSL brand to third-party manufacturers. Promiscuity in business relations led to the fact that the famous brand was shredded, its image in the eyes of buyers was blurred, losing its exclusivity. Saint Laurent and Berger still had one more trump card - the support of French President Mitterrand. Under his pressure, in 1993, the state-owned Elf-Sanofi acquired a significant stake in Yves Saint Laurent and began investing in it. But the change of power at the Elysee Palace deprived the company of this easy income.

Then, for several years in a row, YSL operated at a loss, and the company's losses continued to grow: from $700 thousand in 1999 to $70 million in 2001. True scale YSL's problems only became apparent after French billionaire François Pinault bought a controlling stake for $1 billion in 1999. Another $70 million was paid to Berger and Saint Laurent for the right to use the YSL brand in the pret-a-porter line. Haute couture collections (two a year) remained the domain of the maestro.

To restore the dying model house, Pino threw his strike forces- Italian businessman Domenico de Sole and American designer Tom Ford. Just a few years ago, this couple became famous for managing not only to revive another legendary company, Gucci, from the ashes, but also to grow it into a worthy competitor to the LVMH holding, owned by Pinault’s sworn enemy, Bernard Arnault.

Speaking about the new ideologists of the YSL brand, it is worth noting that Tom Ford is energetic by nature, businesslike, even aggressive person. In many ways, he is the complete opposite of the nervous, emotional, suffering from frequent depression Yves Saint Laurent. This dissimilarity explains a lot, including the fact that it became difficult for them to get along in the same model house. An agreement was concluded between Ford and Saint Laurent on non-interference in each other’s affairs, but an equal alliance still did not work out.

In January 2001, Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé pointedly ignored the show of the first ready-to-wear collection created by Tom Ford for YSL. Moreover, the next day, both, as if nothing had happened, appeared at the debut show of Hedi Slimane from the rival house Christian Dior. His appearance did not go unnoticed, because before that the fashion designer had ignored other people’s shows for about ten years. At the same show, television crews managed to film sensational footage of a conversation between Yves Saint Laurent and Bernard Arnault, during which the couturier complained about life and said that he felt deceived. And now, a year later, the maestro announces that he has decided to finally leave the “fashion business.” Although this news was expected, it still became a sensation. “Today I decided to say goodbye to the world of fashion, which I loved so much...” said 65-year-old Yves Saint Laurent, one of the most famous personalities in his profession, on January 7, 2002. The real reason for this was insurmountable disagreements with the owner of the Yves Saint Laurent company, Francois Pinault. Saint Laurent read out a prepared speech and left, leaving Pierre Berger to explain himself to journalists. He hastened to assure the press that his friend’s departure was not related to any pressure from Francois Pinault.

The YSL brand will continue to exist, but there will no longer be haute couture collections with that name - for this Saint Laurent thanked Pinault, who allowed the master to end his career gracefully. Francois Pinault has already announced that he will try to save as many jobs as possible, but he has not given any guarantees to anyone. The fate of the 158 employees who worked with Saint Laurent remains unclear, as does the future life of the fashion designer himself.

“I would be happy in heaven only if the angels were dressed with taste and wore their halos at a graceful angle.”
“The best clothing for a woman is the embrace of a man who loves her. But for those who are deprived of such happiness, there is me.”

(Yves Saint Laurent)

This year marks 10 years since the passing of one of the greatest French fashion designers Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint Laurent (Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent; August 1, 1936, Oran, Algeria - June 1, 2008, Paris). Over the past decade, a huge number of books, fiction and documentaries, scientific and entertainment articles. Let us also remember today about that important role, played by the favorite dogs in the master’s life.

Insanely talented, nervous and vulnerable, who devoted almost 50 years of his life to high fashion, he was a serious artist, invented a unisex style, dressed women in men's trouser suits and transparent blouses, invented the trapeze dress and the safari style, introduced high-neck turtlenecks into fashion and camouflage.

The great couturier always adored dogs, and considered them to be the best breed. french bulldog. Throughout his life, Saint Laurent had five absolutely similar bulldogs, which he always called by the same name: Man I, Man II, Man III etc. Bulldogs constantly accompanied the fashion designer at photo shoots, inspired and calmed him when the designer was working on new collections, and accompanied him everywhere on trips.

There are different legends about where bulldogs got this funny name. One of them says that at a Parisian party, where bohemians celebrated Lily Brik’s birthday, the designer shared with the “muse of the Russian avant-garde” his doubts about choosing a nickname for his beloved puppy. She suggested giving the pampered bulldog a rude Russian name "Man." This unusual option made Yves laugh and liked him, so he selected each subsequent pet as similar as possible to the previous one and kept the name.

However, biographers of Saint Laurent object that the first dog lived with the master even before meeting Lilya Brik.

Most likely, the name for the bulldogs was invented by Saint Laurent himself, who was a big fan of Russian culture and everything Russian. He collected Bakst and created fantastic outfits for Maya Plisetskaya and Rudolf Nureyev.

In January 1958, the designer released his first women's collection for the Dior house. “Trapezium” played on the shapes of the traditional Russian sundress.

In June 1959, together with twelve fashion models, Yves Saint Laurent flew to Moscow with a collection of women's outerwear, becoming the first famous fashion designer to present French fashion in the USSR

Yves Saint Laurent with Maya Plisetskaya (right) and Catherine Deneuve.

The French bulldog is called the aristocrat of the canine world, because representatives of this breed were very loved and for a long time could only be afforded by the wealthiest people.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the first French bulldogs, having gained great popularity in Europe, began to conquer the hearts of the Russian aristocracy, members of royal family and cultural figures.

Yves Saint Laurent was an expert on Russian culture; he probably knew that the French bulldog was the favorite dog of Princess Tatiana Romanova and Prince Felix Yusupov, the great Fyodor Chaliapin, ballerina Anna Pavlova and Vladimir Mayakovsky.

By the way, Mayakovsky’s portrait stood on the designer’s desk for a long time.

Yves Saint Laurent enjoyed reading the works of Pushkin and Tolstoy, Chekhov and Turgenev, admired the music of Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky, and drank Russian vodka from glasses with a double-headed eagle

It can be assumed that the couturier was also familiar with the statement of the writer Colette, who had big influence on the Parisian bohemia and aristocracy of the early 20th century.

In a letter to a friend, Colette wrote: “At that time I had two dogs, however, my hand does not dare to write “two dogs.” I had a dog and a French bulldog.” Like this: “The French bulldog is a creature of a different order.” 😀

Crossing the Burgos Spanish Bulldog with Toy Bulldogs brought from England, possibly also with Terriers and Pugs, resulted in the creation new breed, in which the body of a reduced English bulldog was combined with the head of a Burgossian, and erect ears on a short bulldog muzzle became one of the main characteristics of the breed.

Breed historian Jennette Brownie wrote: “... I argue that it was the French who made the French Bulldog a compact, straight-legged, short-muzzled, playful and colorful little dog today and they achieved this by avoiding the English bulldog as much as possible.” At the end of 1904, the English Kennel Club finally recognized the breed as an independent breed. It was given the name "Le Bouldogue Francais", which later received the English equivalent of the French Bouldog.

Yves Saint Laurent fell in love with these stocky, muscular dogs with an inimitable flat face and cheerful disposition.

Friendly and cheerful, very active, but quite obedient and selflessly devoted to their owner, the Frenchies became the constant companions of the great designer. And in some ways they were clearly similar 😀

Throughout his life, Saint Laurent had five bulldogs, Muzhikov. They say the fifth was the most severe - he could easily not let a person near the owner if he felt that he did not like him, he could bark and even claw.

By the way, the image of the “Saint Laurent” bulldog, along with Comandante Che and Marilyn Monroe, was immortalized in his paintings by Andy Warhol, and Laurent then used his image to create a Christmas card from the LOVE series, which sold millions of copies and decorated the couturier’s studio (see 2 photos above).

Both Muzhiki (I meant bulldogs now) and love for Russia had a noticeable influence on the designer’s work.

Perhaps he released his first perfume called “Y” half a century ago, in 1964, but these are, after all, just perfume. However, at the end of 2013, the premiere of two French films with the great couturier as the hero took place: “Yves Saint Laurent” and “Saint Laurent”. The first one reached our cinemas in March. It was this picture, unlike the second, that was approved by the tycoon Pierre Berger, who was Saint Laurent’s life partner for many years and remained his business partner to the end.

It is logical that “Yves Saint Laurent,” directed by Jalille Lespert, tells not only about the fashion designer himself (he is played by the Comedy Française actor Pierre Ninet, who is very similar to Saint Laurent), but also about Pierre Berger (Guillaume Gallienne, Ninet’s colleague). It is Berger who narrates the events of the life of his lover, friend and companion.

It is Berger’s feelings that the viewer understands, perhaps more than the feelings of Saint Laurent, who appears here as an autistic man fixated on beauty, who only wants to design women’s clothing, live the sweet life and not know any worries.
Naturally, such a person cannot help but suffer.

There is more than enough suffering in the film, starting with the beatings that young Yves, who early realized he was gay, suffered at school, as well as the psychological trauma that the Algerian War of Independence inflicted on him and his family (the Saint Laurent aristocrats lived there as colonists, they “pied-noirs”, “black-footed”, and did not want to leave).

The Algerian War also influenced Saint Laurent's career. In the 1950s, he worked in Paris for Christian Dior, after his death he became the artistic director of the company, and for the time being the manager dissuaded Yves from the army. After the disastrous 1960 season, Saint Laurent received a summons, was sent to the front and within 20 days suffered a nervous breakdown, after which Yves was treated in a psychiatric hospital with electroconvulsive therapy.

There would have been no happiness, but misfortune helped: if not for this unfortunate incident, Saint Laurent would not have demanded that Pierre Berger find money to open his own fashion house - and would probably have remained just one of the Dior fashion designers.

Then there was success, even triumph, but in the film the delight is mixed with bitterness from the troubles in his personal life, which was stormy for the “dove” Saint Laurent. Either Berger will cheat on Yves with his favorite model Victoire, or the lovers will quarrel after Yves picks up a gay prostitute on the street and ends up in jail... The peak of this homosexual drama that lasted for many years was education love triangle consisting of Pierre Berger, Yves Saint Laurent and Jacques de Bache, the lover of another cult couturier Karl Lagerfeld.

Elements of the sweet life, endless drinking bouts, drug-fuelled dances, a series of men and women of all orientations, the streets of Paris and the gardens of Marrakesh... During the breaks, as someone rightly noted, Yves Saint Laurent “traded revolution” - in modeling business, by itself.

He was the first to invite black models to the catwalk, the first to introduce women's fashion elements of the men's wardrobe from leather jackets to tuxedos, the first to liberate women and give birth to the now triumphant unisex.

Jalil Lespert's film talks about all this very clearly. However main character here, after all, it’s not the gentle and impetuous hysterical Saint Laurent, who remains a mystery to us, but the very smart, in love and unhappy Pierre Berger.

The scene in which Yves plaintively tells Pierre: “I love him, but the man of my life is you” can only be rivaled by the scene in which the insulted Berger cries from resentment and the realization that it’s all over.

And although Yves lived for another thirty years after this, the film’s screenwriters have almost nothing to say about these years. "Yves Saint Laurent" remains a great story, but pure love Saint Laurent and Berger. Maybe there really was nothing more important in their lives. Except, of course, women's fashion.