Yves Saint Laurent SAS (; ; ; ), also known as Saint Laurent and YSL, is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1962 by Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé. The company specializes in '' haute couture'', ready-to-wear, leather accessories, and footwear. Its cosmetics line, YSL Beauty, is owned by L'Oréal.

History

The eponymous brand was established in 1962 by designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé. The brand's logos were designed in 1963 by

A. M. Cassandre Cassandre, pseudonym of Adolphe Jean-Marie MouronNotice d'autorité personne ...

. During the 1960s and 1970s, YSL popularized the beatnik look, safari jackets, tight pants, and thigh-high boots. In 1966, YSL debuted '' Le Smoking'', a tuxedo suit for women. In an attempt to democratize fashion, YSL began producing ready-to-wear in 1966, with its launch of ''Rive Gauche,'' and is considered to be the first to popularize the concept. YSL's designs often featured designs influenced from traditional Chinese clothing, as well as themes from Pop Art, ''Ballet Russes'', and

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is kn ...

. Saint Laurent is credited with initiating the broad, shoulder-padded style in 1978 that would go on to characterize 1980s fashion. Saint Laurent's muses included

Loulou de La Falaise Louise Vava Lucia Henriette Le Bailly de La Falaise (; 4 May 1947 – 5 November 2011), known as Loulou de la Falaise, was an English fashion muse and accessory and jewellery designer associated with Yves Saint Laurent. Author Judith Thur ...

Betty Catroux Betty Catroux (born Betty Saint in 1945) is a Brazilian-born French former Chanel model, and fashion icon. She has been cited as a muse by both Yves Saint Laurent and Tom Ford. Early life She was born in Brazil in 1945, the only child of Carmen ...

, Talitha Pol-Getty, and Catherine Deneuve. The brand expanded in the 1980s and early 1990s with men's and women's fragrances, and its cosmetic line in 1978. However, by 1992, the company's profits were in decline and its share price had fallen. In 1993, Saint Laurent was sold to pharmaceuticals company Sanofi. In 1997, Pierre Bergé appointed Hedi Slimane as collections and art director and relaunched ''Rive Gauche Homme''. Slimane departed two years later to head couture menswear at Dior Homme. In 1999, Kering purchased YSL and hired

Tom Ford Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2005, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Ford wrote and dire ...

to design the ready-to-wear collection, while Yves Saint Laurent himself would design the haute couture collection. Designs by Tom Ford For YSL were chosen Dress of the Year by the Fashion Museum in 2001 and 2004. In 2002, after years of poor health, drug abuse, depression, alcoholism, and criticisms of YSL designs, Saint Laurent closed the couture division of YSL. " Chanel freed women, and I empowered them," Saint Laurent was quoted, reflecting on his career and impact on fashion, "I created the contemporary woman's wardrobe." In 2004, Tom Ford departed the company and Stefano Pilati, an Italian-born designer became creative director. Yves Saint Laurent died of brain cancer in 2008. The following few years proved to be tumultuous for the company, with YSL stores closing in the key U.S. markets of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and New York (including the company's Madison Avenue location, its first-ever store in the United States). In January 2010, its

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boutique on Oak Street also closed. In 2012, Kering announced Hedi Slimane replaced Stefano Pilati as creative director for YSL. Slimane previously worked with Dior Homme until 2007. In 2015, Slimane announced he would revive Yves Saint Laurent's couture line. In 2016, Slimane left Saint Laurent and

Anthony Vaccarello Anthony Vaccarello (born 18 January 1982) is an Italian fashion designer and current creative director at Saint Laurent. Prior to this position, he was creative director at Versus Versace. He also designed his own eponymous line. In April 2016, ...

was appointed creative director, a position he still holds as of August 2022. Despite Slimane previously working with the house, there was controversy following his appointment, particularly after the announcement the ready-to-wear line would be rebranded “Saint Laurent” (dropping “Yves” from its name). ”Yves Saint Laurent” and the YSL vertical monogram logo would remain for accessories and its L’Oréal-owned cosmetics line. Slimane drew inspiration for the name change from the ready-to-wear line ''Rive Gauche''’s name when it first launched, “''Saint Laurent Rive Gauche''”. Parisian boutique Colette began selling shirts with the line "Ain't Laurent without Yves." Saint Laurent requested the store stop selling the shirts (which it did on its online store). In October 2013, Colette received a letter from YSL accusing it of selling counterfeit products that seriously damaged the brand. Following the accusation, Saint Laurent canceled Colette's order for its Spring 2014 Collection, despite Colette stocking the brand since 1998. After his appointment, Slimane moved the design studio to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, Slimane's home; the couture atelier would remain in France. The company revived its '' haute couture'' collection in 2015 under Slimane. In April 2016,

was appointed creative director. In 2017, Vaccarello chose Charlotte Gainsbourg, daughter of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, as face of the A/W 2017 campaign. In 2019, Saint Laurent launched its lifestyle-brand ''Rive Droite'', in which exclusive merchandise, collector's items, and curated experiences are made available at Paris and Los Angeles. In 2021, ''Rive Droite'' debuted ''Te ride'', a collection in collaboration with

Super73 SUPER73 is an American lifestyle adventure brand and manufacturer of electric bicycles based in Irvine, California. It is best known for its product line of motorcycle styled electric bicycles, custom bicycle builds for celebrities, and high-pro ...

, consisting of an electric bike, skateboards, and surfboards, and ''Live Sessions,'' a platform for emerging musicians to perform for a digital audience.

References

External links

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