Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent was the eldest son of a French Algerian colonial administrator, born in Oran in 1936. He won the International Wool Secretariat competition at 17, was hired by Christian Dior at 18, became head designer at 21 (after Dior's sudden death in 1957), was fired at 23 for conscription-related reasons, and opened his own house with partner Pierre Bergé in 1961. He was 25. What YSL did in the next two decades reshaped 20th-century women's wardrobe. Le Smoking (1966) put women in tuxedos and made it acceptable evening wear. The Safari jacket (1968) imported workwear into luxury. The peasant blouse, the see-through Mondrian-print dress (1965), the Russian-collection theatricality of 1976, the Beatnik look — every collection codified an archetype that was either invented or seized so completely that other designers gave up the territory. Saint Laurent retired in 2002; he died in 2008. The house was acquired by PPR (now Kering) and ran through Tom Ford, Stefano Pilati, Hedi Slimane (2012-2016, renamed the brand 'Saint Laurent Paris' and reset it as a rock-glam house), and Anthony Vaccarello (2016 to present). Vaccarello has steered the brand to record revenues — past €3B in 2024 — while preserving the codes Slimane established. The Avenue Marceau atelier where Saint Laurent worked is now the Fondation Pierre Bergé–Yves Saint Laurent museum.