Yves Saint Laurent by Florence Müller and Farid Chenoune (Abrams: June 2010)
Yves Saint Laurent took the fashion world by storm for over fifty years, and this book chronicles his successes, failures, trails, tribulations, and crowning achievements. Opening with a large portrait of the French designer (pictured below) and short remarks from those who knew and admired him, Yves Saint Laurent includes biographical and autobiographical information, reflections on the defining features of his concepts and legacy, and of course, hundreds upon hundreds of photos.
For the first 15 pages of the book, his friend and business partner Pierre Bergé offers a rare insight into the designer’s complex and brilliant personality. Notorious for his shyness and intense focus on his work, Saint Laurent seldom gave interviews, so the subsequent 70-page timeline of his life is a rare treat for fans. The chapters that follow explore Laurent’s life and career, from specific pop art that inspired him, to his use of exoticism, to the controversial 1971 spring-summer collection. A particularly interesting section details the definitive styles Saint Laurent developed for women, such as the pea coat, tunic, trench coat, loose-fitting blouse, tuxedo, suit, safari jacket, and jumpsuit.
The nearly 400-page volume comes out alongside the new exhibit at Petit Palais/Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville in Paris, which has never before displayed the works of a fashion designer. But as Chief Curator Gilles Chazal notes in Yves Saint Laurent, “Beyond being a fashion designer, Yves Saint Laurent is an exceptional artist, whose work easily joins the long succession of prestigious monographic exhibitions mounted by the museum.”
[caption id="attachment_7333" align="alignnone" width="560" caption="© Pierre Boulat, courtesy of the Pierre and Alexandre Boulat Association"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_7334" align="alignnone" width="560" caption="First tuxedo, worn by Ulla, Fall–Winter 1966 haute couture collection. © Fondation Pierre Bergé–Yves Saint Laurent "][/caption]
Short cocktail dress, Tribute to Piet Mondrian, Haute couture collection, Fall–Winter 1965, Ecru wool jersey, encrusted with black, red, yellow, and blue, © Fondation Pierre Bergé–Yves Saint Laurent / Alexandre Guirkinger
