Yves Saint Laurent's Legacy Explored In Paris

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jun 2nd 2010 at 9:01PM

The legacy of Yves Saint Laurent gets a deep exploration in an exhibition currently at the Petit Palais in Paris. The show is the first in Paris since the designer's death in 2008 and explores the full measure of Saint Laurent's considerable influence on fashion. The LA Times reports that the show is nearly three times the size of the 2008 exhibition at the De Young Museum in San Francisco, California. It includes 307 haute couture and ready-to-wear garments, together with photographs, drawings and films.

Produced with the patronage of French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the show shows the fashion but also the lifestyle that Saint Laurent espoused and even includes a salon set up as the "dressing room" of Catherine Deneuve and a recreation of the Avenue Marceau workshop where the couturier designed his collections.. He made symbols of masculinity, shorts, the pants suit and the tuxedo, acceptable and devilishly sexy for women seeking a new method of sartorial self-expression. His dresses, from his Dior trapeze collection in 1958 to his modern draped creations, celebrated movement and energy. The pieces were designed for living,breathing women, not mere hangers. "My dream is to provide women with the basis of a classical wardrobe, one free of the influence of passing trends and giving them greater self- confidence" Yves Saint Laurent once said.

This exhibition has been produced in association with the Pierre Bergé–Yves Saint Laurent Foundation and is open until August 29. It has its own designated website.

Tags: museum, museum exhibit, museums, Yves Saint Laurent