Important Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture Coat, 1970 Fall/Winter
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Style:Russian (In the Style Of)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. small size 0-2.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4615854982
Yves Saint Laurent
French designer Yves Saint Laurent pioneered “cross-design” in fashion, taking inspiration from street trends to modernize haute couture.
Saint Laurent was the first to launch a ready-to-wear label, YSL Rive Gauche Prêt-à-Porter. He was the first couturier to open boutiques for both men and women. Using traditional menswear fabrics and designs for women, Saint Laurent also literally cross-dressed, giving men and women alike chic pant suits, elegant tuxedo jackets and urban safari gear.
By blurring gender-specific design, Saint Laurent empowered individual style while creating a scissor-sharp fashion aesthetic of sensual ease and beauty. Many of his designs are today considered timeless classics. Saint Laurent also consistently used Black models, like Mounia, Iman and Naomi Campbell, and he drew endless inspiration from different ethnicities and cultures, in no small part because of his Algerian roots.
Born to French parents in Oran, Algeria, in 1936, Saint Laurent went to Paris at age 17 to study fashion at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Just two years later, in 1955, his remarkable sketches were shown to Christian Dior, then the world’s reigning couturier, who hired him immediately.
Surprisingly soon thereafter, Dior publicly chose Saint Laurent as his successor, which sadly proved prescient when the fashion legend died unexpectedly, in 1957. A mere slip of a youth, the 21-year-old Saint Laurent was nevertheless up to the challenge. He shook the traditional couture clientele to its core with youthful silhouettes and styles like the A-line trapeze dress that hung with seeming effortlessness from the shoulders, the antithesis of the pinched waists and molded skirts that had been all the rage after the deprivations of World War II.
After a mandated spell in the torturous French military, Saint Laurent suffered a nervous breakdown and was dismissed by Dior in 1962. Out of the ashes rose the Age of Yves. With Pierre Bergé, his then-lover who became his lifelong business partner and friend, the designer founded Yves Saint Laurent YSL to encompass prêt-à-porter, or ready-to-wear. In 1966, they opened the first YSL Rive Gauche women’s boutique in Paris, followed soon thereafter by YSL Rive Gauche for men. Saint Laurent had given birth to a global brand.
His revolutionary Mondrian mini dress from 1965 is a core element of his fashion biography. It is a prime example of how Saint Laurent, an avid art lover and collector, looked to painters, from Goya to Picasso, Ingres to Matisse, for inspiration.
With its pure lines and hues, Mondrian’s ground-breaking 1935 color-block painting Composition C transmutes beautifully into a dress that is highly valued by collectors of contemporary fashion and widely copied commercially to this day. The design is the epitome of Saint Laurent’s aesthetic, requiring a meticulous hand-piecing of each color block so that, despite the body’s curves, the visual plane is as flat as a canvas when the garment is worn. Mondrian’s purity met its match in Saint Laurent.
“I am no longer concerned with sensation and innovation, but with the perfection of my style,” Saint Laurent said four years before retiring, in 2002. After a long period of ill health, he died at his home in Paris on June 1, 2008.
Browse an extraordinary collection of vintage Yves Saint Laurent evening dresses, shirts, handbags and other clothing and accessories today on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Riverdale, NY
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Mariano Fortuny Gauze Sleevless Coat, Provenance Tina ChowBy FortunyLocated in New York, NYTransparent Fortuny gauze pieces are based on the ancient tunic which was a shirt like garment that became traditional attire in roman times, the copts or christian egyptians...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Coats
- Mariano Fortuny Green Stencilled Velvet Long CoatBy FortunyLocated in New York, NYFortuny translated the caftan as a loose fitting outer garment,usually made out of silk velvet crepe or gauze the fitted back and open front allowed for elaborate stenciled decoratio...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Coats
- Mariano Fortuny Black Stencilled Velvet Persian Style CoatBy FortunyLocated in New York, NYThis three-quarter length black velvet persian coat was printed with metallic paints with Venetian glass buttons and silk loop closures at the center fr...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Coats
- Bold Italian Gold and Black Paisley Print CoatLocated in New York, NYBold Italian Gold and Black Paisley Print Coat in glazed cotton with full cut sleeves. Styled as a fully cut swing coat falling from large shoulder pads with no closures. Requires be...Category
1990s Italian Coats and Outerwear
- Unusual Edwardian CoatLocated in New York, NYUnusual European walking coat from the late 19th/early 20th Century. Black cotton sateen is tailored with black passementerie and embroidery. A panel of passementerie openwork is att...Category
20th Century European Edwardian Coats
- Moschino Hybrid BlazerBy MoschinoLocated in New York, NYUnusual schizophrenic jacket by Moschino, Italy. Coachella or Corporate depending on how you enter the room. Deep marine blue rayon crepe with a wonderful drape. Deep black fringe bo...Category
1990s Italian Jackets
- Alexander McQueen Men's blue denim trench coatBy Alexander McQueenLocated in London, GBAlexander McQueen Men's blue denim trench coatCategory
Early 2000s British Coats and Outerwear
- Wool oversize coat with leopard print Golden GooseBy Golden GooseLocated in Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, FRWool oversize coat with leopard print. Main fabric composition: 58% wool, 26% polyamide. Lining( on the shoulders only) 64% rayon, 36% cupro. Inside sleeves lining: 100% rayon. No li...Category
2010s Italian Overcoats
- MONSE black deconstructed tulle insert logo embroidered hood sweatshirt XSBy MonseLocated in Hong Kong, NTMONSE black deconstructed tulle insert logo embroidered hood sweatshirt XS Reference: AAWC/A00258 Brand: Monse Designer: Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia Collection: 2021 Material: Cott...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Hooded Jackets
- CHANEL 05P Runway cream crochet knit black silk trim cardigan coat FR38 MBy Karl Lagerfeld, ChanelLocated in Hong Kong, NTCHANEL 05P Runway cream crochet knit black silk trim cardigan coat FR38 M Reference: GIYG/A00346 Brand: Chanel Designer: Karl Lagerfeld Collection: 05P Material: Polyamide, Blend Col...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Coats
- DSquared2 Black Leather Trench Style Full Coat - 46By Dsquared2Located in West Palm Beach, FLThis DSqaured black full leather coat is a classic staple. It features a soft leather exterior, two front pockets, silver turnkey buttons, and a stitched paneled look. The coat is in...Category
Early 2000s American Coats and Outerwear
- Jasper Conran Grey Wool CoatBy Jasper ConranLocated in London, GBA chic grey wool coat by Jasper Conran main line. The coat has two pockets on the front and is labelled a size 10. Made in England Measurements: Bust up ...Category
Early 2000s British Coats and Outerwear
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
How to Spot a Fake YSL Bag
Counterfeiters know that savvy fashionistas cherish YSL bags. Learn how to tell if yours is the real deal. Of course, you don't have to worry about that on 1stDibs, where every seller is highly vetted.
Quiet Luxury May Be Trending, but These Famous Interiors Prove That Quality and Quirk Endure
Because truly timeless design requires personal vision, transcendent taste, real fortitude and top-notch objects, even if the wider world hasn’t caught on yet.