The French fashion designer Yves Saint
Laurent presents his first rather conservative collection under his
own label on 29 January 1962 at Hôtel Forain, rue Spontini 30bis
Paris. In July follows the second collection with more adventurous
items that hint at street chic, such as suits with tunics.
Yves Henri Donat
Matthieu-Saint-Laurent, born on 1 August 1936 in French Algeria, grew
up with his two younger sisters, Michèle and Brigitte. In his early
teen years he created dresses for his mother and sisters. At the age
of 18 in 1954 he went to the Ecole Chambre Syndicale de la Haute
Couture in Paris. In 1955 Yves Saint Laurent meets Christian Dior
and he begins working as his assistant. After a short while he starts
to design for Dior’s accessories lines and contributes ideas for
the couture collection.
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| Yves Saint Laurent Debut (1962) |
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| Yves Saint Laurent Debut (1962) |
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| Yves Saint Laurent Debut (1962) |
On 23 October 1957 Christian Dior dies
of a heart attack and in November the company announces that Yves
Saint Laurent will be its new design head.
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| Yves Saint Laurent Debut (1962) |
In January 1958 Yves Saint Laurent
presents his first couture collection for Dior, including his famous
trapeze dresses. The same year in August he shows his Arc Line
collection for Dior with looser silhouettes and longer,
below-the-knee hemlines.
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| Yves Saint Laurent Debut (1962) |
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| Yves Saint Laurent Debut (1962) |
In September 1960 Yves Saint Laurent
was conscripted to serve in the French Army during the Algerian War
of Independence. There was speculation that Marcel Boussac, owner of
Dior, had put pressure on the government not to conscript Saint
Laurent in 1958 and 1959 but reversed his demand and asked that the
designer be conscripted after the disastrous 1960 season so that he
could be replaced. Saint Laurent was in the military for 20 days when
he received news that he had been fired by Dior and replaced by Marc
Bohan. He suffers a mental breakdown and is admitted to Val-de-Grâce,
a psychiatric hospital in Paris.
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| Yves Saint Laurent Dress (1962) |
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| Yves Saint Laurent Dress (1962) |
After his release from the hospital in
November 1960, Saint Laurent sued Dior for breach of contract and
won. In November 1961 Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé
started their own fashion house with funds from Atlanta millionaire
J. Mack Robinson. Ukrainian-French painter, commercial poster artist,
and typeface designer, Adolphe Mouron Cassandre designed the iconic
"YSL" logo in December 1961
Yves Saint Laurent Collection (French, 1962)
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