Yves Saint Laurent

Its journey is marked almost as much by success as by controversy. A look back at the history of this French house with an unusual destiny.

The history of Yves Saint-Laurent, a figure of worldwide artistic excellence

Yves Saint-Laurent was born in 1936 in Oran, Algeria. He spent his entire youth there before arriving in Paris to join the school of the chambre syndicale de la couture parisienne. There, he met Michel de Brunhoff, director of Vogue France. The latter introduced him to Christian Dior, who decided to hire him as an assistant. Endowed with extraordinary talent, Yves Saint-Laurent instantly made a name for himself in the fashion world. So much so that upon Christian Dior's death in 1957, Yves Saint-Laurent took over as artistic director of the house. He presented his first collection in January 1958 and met with immense success. Nevertheless, he was called up for military service and was subsequently hospitalized for depression. As a result, he was dismissed from the house of Dior in 1960. Thus, barely a year later, in July 1961, he decided to team up with Pierre Bergé to found his own couture house. Thanks to the financial support of billionaire J. Mack Robinson, Yves Saint-Laurent presented his first collection five months later. This marked the beginning of his meteoric rise. Yves Saint-Laurent displayed immense audacity, surprising the public with his strict sense of cut, his play of simple colors and his androgynous style. He was likewise behind the women's tuxedo, the safari jacket and the pantsuit for women.

Yves Saint-Laurent's audacity in perfumery

Furthermore, as early as 1971, Yves Saint-Laurent presented his first perfume, named Rive Gauche. That same year, he decided to go even further and pose nude for the advertisement of his perfume Homme. This is considered to be Yves Saint-Laurent's first provocation. However, it would not be the last! Additionally, the fragrance Opium sparked numerous controversies and was even banned in certain countries due to its illicit connotation. Regardless, this at least had the merit of getting people talking and contributed to phenomenal publicity, making this fragrance one of the most famous perfumes on the planet. Thus, through the controversies, the house of Yves Saint-Laurent managed to establish itself on the international stage, adored by the general public as well as by the biggest stars. Yves Saint-Laurent's renown was such that in 1983, a retrospective of his life was presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, a first for a still-living designer.

Today, it has been more than 50 years since Yves Saint-Laurent began creating fragrances, cherished by men and women alike. Many of its fragrances have become essential references marked by frankness, audacity, avant-gardism and exceptional craftsmanship.