[February 9 2024]
This exhibition of unique magnitude brings together about forty pieces from the archives of the house. It opens with the famous portrait of Yves Saint Laurent, naked posing before the lens of Jeanloup Sieff, placing the exhibition under the sign of a nudity that refuses the vulgar and embraces a chic and respectful elegance. It particularly focuses on the collections of the late 1960s where dresses in organza, Cigaline, crèpe de chine, lace, tulle, and muslin were abundantly produced, allowing the customer to assert herself as the emancipated and strong woman of the time. To wear a nude dress was to celebrate one’s own femininity.
But to reduce this exhibition to a simple celebration of beautiful garments and precious material would miss the point. The collection presented gives a broader meaning to transparency: that of a window onto the complex art of fashion by Yves Saint Laurent. At the heart of the exhibition, visitors are led to enter the confines of the atelier: sketches still warm, charms, and photographs frame books taken from the immense library as if Yves had just left the room. The exhibition blends the arts by presenting the importance of painting and architecture for the house. Sketches mingle with paintings by Goya, Picabia, and Man Ray in an attempt to decipher the mental universe that inspired the dresses in their fluidity and evanescence. Transparency is also that of highlighting the complexity of fashion and the importance of the seamstresses, making visible all those who make the magic happen. A sheer dress necessarily reveal the impeccable construction that is unique to haute couture, celebrating all the artisans of the total art that is fashion by Yves Saint Laurent.
On view from February 9th to August 25th at Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
Text & Photos by Ewen Guinta
Yves Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent
Natacha Ramsay in her new Yves Saint Laurent dress. Photo Olivier Zahm
The CEO of Yves Saint Laurent, Paul Denève and Marc Newson before the Yves…
The red chairs at the Yves Saint Laurent Men’s show, Paris. Photo…
Olympia Scarry at the Yves Saint Laurent dinner at Caviar Kaspia, Paris….
Amber Rose at the Yves Saint Laurent F/W 2010 Men’s show wearing…
Yves Saint Laurent F/W 2010 Stefano’s first tribute to Yves
Kanye West and Amber Rose backstage at the Yves Saint Laurent show,…
Hawkesworth Jamie
Tomoo Gokita “PEEKABOO” exhibition opening and after party at Tokyo Opera City...
Slutever
Sex Fashion
Balenciaga
Nigora in Los Angeles
See Yasmine Eslami’s new S/S 2018 swimwear campaign
BIRKENSTOCK BOX x Rick Owens Launch Party at Rick Owens, Los Angeles
Sofie in the Dutch fields
PURPLE Want: our favorite items from Art Basel Shop
The Salon by NADA and The Community art fair for Paris Art...
SELF HELP a film by Aaron Rose
William Eggleston
“Prophecy of the End” a solo exhibition by Samantha Joy Groff opens...
Chic dinner at Sceners Gallery, co-hosted with Docent Art, welcoming global art...
Paris Internationale 2024 opened today at Central Bergère, running until October 20th
Celebrating the Pierre Augustin Rose collaboration with Alexander May, on view until...
“Tales of Xenophobia” presents the itinerant art show “Les Autres…” at Tora...
© Purple Institute