Yves Saint Laurent Black Velvet Dress (c. 1990s)
Curator's Note
From Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, dating to the 1990s. The diagonal front fastening with Chinese-knot closures reflects Saint Laurent's enduring interest in non-Western dress codes, a thread that ran through both his couture and ready-to-wear across four decades.
Description
- Knee-length dress in black velvet
- V-neckline with diagonal front fastening detailed with Chinese-knot closures mounted with beads
- Long sleeves
- Rive Gauche label
Size & Measurements
- Labelled size FR 36 (please refer to measurements for accurate fit)
- Measurements are taken with the garment laid flat:
- Shoulder: 38cm
- Chest: 44cm
- Waist: 36cm
- Length: 94cm
Excellent
Garment is in outstanding condition with no or minimal signs of wear. Any flaws present are negligible and do not detract from the overall appearance or integrity of the piece.
Yves Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent was born in Oran, Algeria in 1936 and moved to Paris at seventeen, winning a design competition that brought him to the attention of Christian Dior. When Dior died suddenly in 1957, Saint Laurent was named head designer of the house at twenty-one, producing his debut Trapèze line to immediate critical success. The Trapèze dresses flared gently from the shoulder, moving away from the structured New Look silhouette that had defined the house under Dior. He founded his own house with his partner Pierre Bergé in 1961. Over the next four decades he produced a body of work that reshaped the modern wardrobe: Le Smoking, the women's tuxedo suit he popularised in 1966 and worn by Bianca Jagger, Catherine Deneuve and Liza Minnelli; the Mondrian collection of the same year, with its geometric colour-blocked shifts drawn directly from Piet Mondrian's paintings; the safari jacket; the sheer blouse; the jumpsuit; and a series of collections drawing on Chinese dress, Pop Art and the Ballets Russes. In 1966 he launched Rive Gauche, his ready-to-wear line, making him one of the first couturiers to democratise access to his designs. His muses included Loulou de La Falaise, Betty Catroux, Talitha Pol-Getty and Catherine Deneuve. He retired in 2002 and died in Paris in June 2008. The house has since been led by Tom Ford, Stefano Pilati, Hedi Slimane, who rebranded the ready-to-wear line as Saint Laurent Paris in 2012, and Anthony Vaccarello, who has held the position since 2016. The Musée Yves Saint Laurent, opened in Paris and Marrakesh in 2017, holds the most comprehensive archive of his work.
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