Yves Saint Laurent Multicolored Knitted Coat Dress
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Length: 36.23 in (92 cm)Marked Size: 40 (EU)Bust: 20.48 in (52 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FR
- Reference Number:
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: SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, France
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Jean Paul Gaultier Black Strapless DressBy Jean Paul Gaultier, Jean Paul Gaultier SoleilLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRJean Paul Gaultier -(Made in Italy) Black strapless dress. Size L, it fits a 38FR. Additional information: Dimensions: Length: 115 cm Condition: Very good condition Seller Ref numb...Category
Early 2000s Italian Casual Dresses
- Yves Saint Laurent Black Poplin Long Sleeve Haute Couture DressBy Yves Saint LaurentLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRYves Saint Laurent Haute Couture - Black poplin long sleeve Haute Couture dress. No size indicated, it fits a 42FR. Additional information: Dimensions: Shoulder width: 36cm - Chest...Category
1980s French Casual Dresses
- Alexander Mcqueen Pleated Colored Silk Muslin Bustier Dress Spring, 2008By Alexander McQueenLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRAlexander Mcqueen - (Made in Italy) Pleated colored silk muslin bustier dress with a piece of muslin to cover the shoulders. Size 42IT. 2008 Spring-Summer Collection. Additional inf...Category
Early 2000s Italian Maxi Dresses
- Chanel Black Blended Wool DressBy Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, ChanelLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRChanel - (Made in France) Black blended wool dress. 42FR size indicated. Additional information: Condition: Very good condition Dimensions: Shoulder width: 42 cm - Chest: 48 cm - Le...Category
Early 2000s French Casual Dresses
- Nina Ricci Lace and Satin Négligé DressBy Nina RicciLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRNina Ricci - (Made in Spain) Lace and satin négligé. Indicated size 42FR. Additional information: Condition: Very good condition Dimensions: Chest: 44 cm - Waist: 40 cm - Length: 11...Category
1970s Spanish Nightgowns
- Chanel Black and White Wool DressBy Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld for ChanelLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRChanel -(Made in France) Black and white wool and black leatherette dress. Size 38FR. Additional information: Dimensions: Shoulder width: 42 cm, Chest: 45 cm, Waist: 37 cm, Length:...Category
Early 2000s French Mini Dresses
- F/W 1996 Gianni Versace Couture Purple Satin Yellow Lace Rhinestone Slip DressBy Gianni Versace, Gianni Versace CoutureLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a stunning yellow and purple satin Gianni Versace Couture dress, designed by Gianni Versace. From the Fall/Winter 1996 collection, this gorgeous dress debuted as part of l...Category
1990s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Vintage Montigo Bay DressLocated in London, GBA vintage dress by Montigo Bay day dress. The dress has a blue background with white print. It has a collar and tie at the neck and a central back zip.Category
1960s British Day Dresses
- Emilio Pucci Floral Printed Pastel Blue and Lavender Cotton Dress - 4By Emilio PucciLocated in West Palm Beach, FLEmilio Pucci Floral Printed Pastel Blue and Lavender Cotton Dress with Cap Sleeves - 4. This loose fitting cotton dress is pastel blue and lavender and has a floral printed. It has c...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Day Dresses
- 1970s Purple Lavender Lightweight Cotton Voile Vintage 70s Wrap DressLocated in San Diego, CAAmazing 1970s purple and lavender lightweight cotton voile short sleeve wrap dress ! Features a vibrant regal purple with lavender ruffle details. Elastic waistband. Both colors on e...Category
1970s American Cocktail Dresses
- Pucci Silk Jersey "Plume" Pattern DressBy Emilio PucciLocated in New York, NYEmilio Pucci, silk jersey, raglan sleeve, scoop neck with tie, dress, having a blue, purple and magenta, "plume" pattern on a black background. Sleeves are full and cuff at the wris...Category
1960s Italian Empire Waist Dresses
- 1970s Holly's Harp China Stencil Buttons Hand Painted Cold Shoulder Silk DressBy Holly HarpLocated in San Diego, CARare 70s HOLLY'S HARP purple hand painted boho cold shoulder dress ! Features a beautiful medium shade of purple. Hand painted tress, leaves and rainbows throughout. Vibrant colors o...Category
1970s American Cocktail Dresses
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.