A Bit About YSL

A Bit about the Designer

Born in Algeria in 1936, Yves Saint Laurent as a teen was designing dresses for his sisters and mother. After moving to Paris at 17, Christian Dior recognized his talent and gave him an apprenticeship.

He worked under Dior for a few years, then just before Dior’s death, was made head designer. In 1961 after fighting for France in the Algerian War, Yves Saint Laurent and his then life partner, Pierre Berge, launched the YSL Label.

This brand from the beginning was committed to creating sophisticated, empowering, and sexy statement pieces for women, Catherine Deneuve was one of their greatest muses. The designer revolutionized the interaction between clothing and high society by introducing the first ready-to-wear line in 1966. 

Gucci purchased the house in 1999, and Tom Ford starting designing their ready to wear collections. Yves Saint Laurent closed the couture house of YSL in 2002. A monolithic figure of 20th century fashion, Yves Saint Laurent was considered one of the last of a generation including Chanel and Dior, who also made Paris the fashion capital of the world, with the Rive Gauche, or Left Bank, as headquarters.

In 2013, after 45 years as YSL, their new Artistic Director Hedi Slimane blew into the company and changed many things, not the least of which was it's name, to Saint Laurent Paris.