Yves Saint Laurent is celebrating their 60th anniversary this year, which is a glittering occasion.
To commemorate the occasion, the late couturier's designs will be on exhibit at six major institutions in Paris, alongside some of the pieces of art that inspired them.
Saint Laurent's career took off in 1955, when he was employed by Christian Dior. Though his first year was sluggish, Saint Laurent was able to submit more and more of his sketches to Dior for the couture collection with each passing season.
In August 1957, Dior tapped Saint Laurent to succeed him as head designer of House of Dior at the age of 21. Later that year, Dior died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 52.
Saint Laurent was the head of Dior until 1960, when he was enlisted to serve in the French Army during the Algerian War of Independence, though he only served a few weeks. While he was away, he learned he had been fired from Dior.
Following his return, the designer sued Dior for breach of contract and won. Soon after, he and his business partner, Pierre Bergé, created their own fashion label, Yves Saint Laurent. At the age of 26, he debuted his first collection in January 1962.
Almost everything he did was indirectly inspired by art and literature, and several of Saint Laurent's couture designs over the years matched works by Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso. The Mondrian series, which pays homage to modern painters such as Piet Mondrian, is one of his most well-known works. Six shift cocktail dresses inspired by Mondrian's paintings were included in the collection, with a pattern consisting of geometric black lines and blocks of white and primary color.
Saint Laurent died in 2008 at his Paris home following a battle with brain cancer. He was 71 years old.
Today, the label is one of the most well-known in the fashion industry, with Anthony Vaccarello serving as creative director since 2016. Vaccarello arrived at the 2021 Met Gala with a star-studded entourage that included Zoe Kravitz, Olivia Rodrigo, Hai Bieber, Indya Moore, and Blackpink's Rosé, who strolled beside the designer for shots on the red carpet.
