Yves St. Laurent came to the notice of Christian Dior through his friend Michel de Brunhoff. De Brunhoff was the chief judge of a competition set by the International Woold Secretariat in 1953, which was won by Yves St. Laurent, who submitted a design of an asymmetrically draped one-sleeved cocktail dress.
When de Brunhoff went through this young man's portfolio of designs, he was very impressed, particularly since some of the designs looked very much like the new A-line collection which his friend Christian Dior was preparing for presention.
De Brunhoff told Dior that he must take this young man into his salon, and although Dior was not initially keen to do so, when he saw his designs, he agreed. Dior only had one assistant throughout his life, and this was Yves St. Laurent.
While he was at Dior, he designed many dresses which appeared in the 6-monthly collections, particuarly 'bubble dresses" which were drawn in at the hemline on a band.
Dior felt that he was not being recognized enough for his work and did have plans to give him more recognition, but he died before these plans could be put into place.
Yves St. Laurent's first collection for Dior was called the "Trapeze" line and it was a great success. The newspaper headlines read:
"St. LAURENT HAS SAVED FRANCE, THE GREAT DIOR TRADITION WILL CONTINUE"
The young designer appeared on the balcony to greet the crowd The Trapeze Line
This design was a triangular shape, it flared gently from narrow shoulders to a shorter, wider hemline just covering the knees. By autumn all of Paris was wearing this shape dress.
Yves St. Laurent presented 6 collections for Dior. His 1959 collection was not very well received because he raised the hemline to the knees, belted every waist tightly and pulled the skirt into a tight kneeband. YSL was not very concerned about the criticism as he said "indignation is a good sign, it means fashion is alive and well."
1960 The Spring/Summer collection was also very shocking, it was Beatnik, motor-cycle jackets made of alligator skin, mink coats with ribbed sweater sleeves and turtlenecks under finely cut suits. The staff at Dior felt YSL had misjudged the Dior clientele.
In 1960, Yves St. Laurent was called for military service, and on his return he found that Marc Bohan had been given charge of the House of Dior. St. Laurent was very angry about this, and sued legally against Dior since he had a contract for the position with Dior. He was granted compensation of 48,000 pounds and used this to set up his own salon.
"L'Eléphant Blanc", Dress, Evening, spring/summer 1958
Christian Dior Haute Couture (French, founded 1947), Couture House; Yves Saint Laurent (French, born Algeria, 1936), Designer
French
Gift of Col. and Mrs. Edgar W. Garbisch, 1977 (1977.329.5)
metmuseum.org
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"Because of all sorts of cloth have their motions, as well as Bodies, it must needs that they differ in themselves." -Lomazzo
Last edited by Hanne : 08-11-2007 at 06:47 AM.
Reason: added picture back in
I would love to see more pictures of the original Trapeze shape. Also what is the Y-line? I've heard of it, but I can't visualize what it'd look like.
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"For to disagree with three- fourths of the British public on all points is one of the first elements of sanity, one of the deepest consolations in all moments of spiritual doubt." -Oscar Wilde
a new book about that era, you can find it in Amazon:
Quote:
Paris, 1962: Yves Saint Laurent and Dior, The Early Collections.
YSL Returns To Its Roots
Photography tome helps usher in new salon
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
(NEW YORK) Yves Saint Laurent's revamped Madison Avenue boutique celebrates its reopening next Wednesday, and what more appropriate way to show off a new look than with an homage to the iconic brand's heritage? To herald the occasion, guests have been invited to a private cocktail party that night to toast the limited-edition release of Paris, 1962: Yves Saint Laurent and Dior; The Early Collections, a compilation of photographer Jerry Schatzberg's images captured at MonsieurSaint Laurent's first solo show in Paris. On assignment for Esquire in 1962 to shoot "street style" at the Paris collections, Schatzberg's images, which also feature photo shoots with Helmut Newton and the around-the-clock action during couture, were never published--until now. The intimate, salon-like setting--2,800-square-feet of retail space offering the full line of women's ready-to-wear and accessories--should give attendees an up-close-and-personal preview of the pricey coffee table book before its December debut, which is limited to 500 copies at $800 each. At least it comes encased in a navy crocodile embossed leather box with a print from the book.
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And I am nothing of a builder, but here I dreamt I was an architect
And I built this balustrade to keep you home, to keep you safe from the outside world
Linear Mode
