60 Years of Yves Saint Laurent, Six Exhibitions and A Stream Of Memorable Designs

by SHOWstudio on 27 January 2022

This weekend will see the 60th anniversary of Yves Saint Laurent. We look back at his stratospheric career and fashion-defining moments that rocked the industry from the bottom up, all in 60 seconds.

This weekend will see the 60th anniversary of Yves Saint Laurent. We look back at his stratospheric career and fashion-defining moments that rocked the industry from the bottom up, all in 60 seconds.

There's a lot to say on Yves Saint Laurent, so much so that it could seem a 60-second snapshot of his kaleidoscopic career does The Left Bank's 'little prince of fashion' somewhat of a disservice. Lo and behold, France - and Morocco - have called for big celebrations this year, revealed through a whopping six exhibitions that will take place over the next 12 months. How have we responded? We only thought it natural to compile six of the late designer's influences and six of his references into a 60-second video clip. It's hard to shrink a mammoth career full of era-defining, fashion-bending moments into 60 seconds, but our fashion critic M-C Hill was up to the task, referencing six museums, six influences and six inspirations in a Tik Tok paying homage to global fashion icon.

From the designer's revolutionary Le Smoking suit, which stood as a benchmark for 70s elegance and style, to a wonderfully curated collision between fashion and art that first took form in the 1965 Piet Mondrian-inspired shift dress, his creations, no matter how wildly different they were from each other, continuously changed the face of fashion. At the height of the sixties' sexual revolution, Yves Saint Laurent, inspired by this and the women's liberation movement, created an entirely see-through chiffon dress, with nothing but a belt of ostrich feathers to cover them below. Overnight, he freed the nipple without objectifying women, rather glorifying them, cementing the truth in his famous quote, 'Nothing is more beautiful than a naked body'.

Famously believing 'good clothing is a passport for happiness', Yves Saint Laurent made this declaration his entire life, dedicating his adult life to serving women and their wardrobes. So, while we eagerly await exhibitions at Paris' Centre Pompidou, Museum of Modern Art, Musée d'Orsay, The Louvre and the infamous YSL Museum in Marrakech, Morocco, let Hill's energetic and quick-witted 60-second clip blow you away to an Yves Saint Laurent-inspired paradise.

Yves Saint Laurent

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