NYLON - September 2008 - (Page 78) AGENT PROVOCATEUR Diana Vreeland once described Yves Saint Laurent as the Pied Piper of fashion, “because whatever he does, women of all ages, from all over the world, follow.” And she was right. From his trim, belted safari jackets to the famous “Le smoking” suits to the forgivingly elegant trapeze dresses, Laurent’s signature styles were always worth emulating. His career began early. After seeing a Molière play as a child, the precocious Laurent was so enchanted by the elaborate costumes that he re-created the entire production in miniature at home. His dynamic fashion sketches eventually landed in the hands of Vogue’s Michel de Brunhoff, who introduced the budding designer to Christian Dior. Dior hired him on the spot to be his collaborator when Laurent was only 18. And when Dior died suddenly, the multi-million dollar fashion house was left in the hands of the young Laurent. When he was just 21, his first collection for the iconic label was declared a revelation by the press. In 1961, with the help of Pierre Bergé, Laurent opened a couture house of his own, and soon enough he was churning out innovative collections at a seemingly breakneck speed—Life magazine called his first solo effort “the best collection of suits since Chanel.” Year after year, Laurent seemed to approach each season’s work with a keen eye for what would best flatter the woman’s figure, as well as a historian’s studied perspective. He culled inspiration from far away locales—the 1937 novel Out Of Africa influenced his safari ensembles; 1976’s Russian-inspired collection, which Laurent called “the greatest success I ever had,” brought babushka head scarfs to the masses; and 1977’s rigid Mandarin collars and silk kimonos were straight out of imperial China—as well as from the greatest artists stylist: kate erwin. hair: danielle irene for artistsbytimothypriano.com. makeup: martin wieser at myr jan for m.a.c cosmetics. model: nina at wilhelmina. all clothes by yves saint laurent. yves saint laurent courtesy of the everett collection. YVES SAINT LAURENT BUILT AN EMPIRE ON THE PREMISE THAT STYLE SHOULD NEVER BE SAFE. BY FIORELLA VALDESOLO. PHOTOGRAPHED BY ISA WIPFLI hall of fame yves saint laurent, 1937-2008 a look from stefano pilati’s fall ’08 collection for yves saint laurent. 78 http://www.artistsbytimothypriano.com
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