CITY Issue 58 - (Page 128) ICON YVES SAINT LAURENT I t was years ago that a -year-old lgerian, with the lights of Paris in his eyes and the weight of the wo ld’s most fo midable coutu e house on his shoulde s, stepped into the limelight as the head designe at Ch istian Dio Haute Coutu e. ves Saint Lau ent wo ked cleve ly within the atelie ’s mandates, dictating a signatu e shape fo each season while infusing the house with a spi it that would defi ne its legacy fo gene ations. This shy young man, known fo his thigh-high black c ocodile boots, would be c edited fo b inging “st eet” into Dio ’s salon. He ose to fame alongside his dea f iend Ka l Lage feld, and claimed his mothe was his g eatest muse — even when Betty Cat oux and Paloma Picasso, and late Ve ushka and Je y Hall, allied a ound his wo k. The debut of his own line in ma ked a magical e a fo the coutu ie , and fou yea s late he maintained his step with fashion’s flightiness by int oducing a p êt-a-po te collection named a e Pa is’s evolutiona y Le Bank. s the yea s passed, he gave us eccent icities — a hooded d ess made enti ely of white c ochet, a feathe ed bi d-of-pa adise sheath fo Zizi Jeanmai e, fu -t immed vests and cossack hats fo the Ballets Russes — along with classics like the pea coat and the safa i jacket. s his list of admi e s g ew to include Loulou de la Falaise, Cathe ine Deneuve, and Katoucha, so too did his po tfolio of concoctions. Campaigns such as ’s Pou Homme, which featu ed the designe seated nude against a solid backd op, eflected a ca ee built upon constantly challenging aesthetic bounda ies. Ove time, Saint Lau ent took his place next to Cha les F ede ick Wo th, Paul Poi et, Gab ielle Chanel, and Ch istian Dio as one of the defi ning geniuses of th-centu y fashion. s we bid fa ewell to Monsieu Saint Lau ent, the wo ds of anothe “late g eat,” Nan Kempne , come to mind as a fitting epilogue to a lifelong sto y of sa to ial g ace: “ ves is someone who takes the beauty ight out of the ai .” — EL SS DIM NT / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / ///// AS HIS LIST OF ADMIRERS GREW TO INCLUDE LOULOU DE LA FALAISE, CATHERINE DENEUVE, AND KATOUCHA, SO TOO DID HIS PORTFOLIO OF CONCOCTIONS PHOTO CREDIT: ESTATE OF JEANLOUP SIEFF 128 CITY TY
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