Yves Saint Laurent (brand)
Yves Saint Laurent also known as Saint Laurent, is a French luxury fashion house founded by Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé. The company revived its haute couture collection in 2015 under former Creative Director Hedi Slimane. In April 2016, Anthony Vaccarello was appointed as Creative Director. Founded in 1961, it has been considered one of the world's most prominent fashion houses and is known for its modern and iconic[clarification needed] pieces, such as its tuxedo jackets for women. Today, Saint Laurent markets a broad range of women's and men's ready-to-wear products, leather goods, shoes and jewellery. Yves Saint Laurent Beauté also has a notable presence in the luxury beauty and fragrance market, although this is owned by L'Oréal, which holds exclusive licenses for the name.
The eponymous brand was founded in 1961 by designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé, and the current logos were designed in 1963 by A. M. Cassandre. During the 1960s and 1970s, the firm popularized fashion trends such as the beatnik look, safari jackets for men and women, tight pants and tall, thigh-high boots, including the creation of arguably the most famous classic tuxedo suit for women in 1966, Le Smoking suit. Some of his most memorable collections include the Pop Art, Ballet Russes, Picasso, and Chinese ones. He also started mainstreaming the idea of wearing silhouettes from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. He was the first, in 1966, to popularize ready-to-wear in an attempt to democratize fashion, with Rive Gauche and a boutique of the same name. Among Saint Laurent's muses were Loulou de La Falaise, the daughter of a French marquis and an Anglo-Irish fashion model; Betty Catroux, the half-Brazilian daughter of an American diplomat and wife of a French decorator; Talitha Pol-Getty, a model and actress whose husband was a Getty heir; and Catherine Deneuve, the French actress.
Boutiques
Designed by Slimane, the Paris flagship boutique opened in May 2013. The previous deep red and gold color scheme was replaced by a monochrome interior, with varying materials, including marble and nickel-plated bars.This concept was used in the renovated Beverly Hills boutique, and its new London boutique on Sloane Street, as well as new stores in the United States.
In 2013, a men's store—a first for the brand—opened in San Francisco, a full-line store opened in New York City, in its SoHo neighborhood, and a full-line store opened in Chicago at the Waldorf Astoria on Rush Street, where private showings had been given since the Chicago store closed in 2010.
In 1999, Gucci bought the YSL brand and asked Tom Ford to design the ready-to-wear collection while Saint Laurent would design the haute couture collection. In 2002, dogged by years of poor health, drug abuse, depression, alcoholism, and criticisms of YSL designs, Saint Laurent closed the couture house of YSL. While the house no longer exists, the brand still survives through its parent company Gucci Group.