Yves St Laurent

In 1953, when he was just 17 years old, his design of an asymmetrical cocktail dress won an international competition. Later that year, Yves Saint Laurent was introduced to the legendary Christian Dior, who was so impressed with the young man's sketches that he hired him on the spot. Yves became Dior's assistant.

Over the next four years, he saw more and more of his own designs become a part of the fashion line. In 1957, Dior announced that he had chosen Yves Saint Laurent as his eventual successor as chief designer for the House of Dior. With the unexpected death of the designer later that year, Yves found himself the head of a major fashion line at the age of 21. His 1958 collection for Dior undoubtedly saved the company. Subsequent collections did not fare nearly as well with critics, and, when he was conscripted into military service in 1960, the House of Dior took that opportunity to replace him as head designer.

Although his brief military service took its toll on the young designer, his determination to succeed in the fashion world was undaunted. By 1962, with his partner, Pierre Berge, he launched his own signature couture line. Yves Saint Laurent had a knack of giving the world exactly what it wanted, when it wanted it. He was driven, not to be a follower of fashion, nor too avant garde, but in his own words: “My small job as a couturier is to make clothes that reflect our times." When designer labels became a vital part of the 80's culture, the YSL ready-to-wear line was already supplying modern women with everyday fashion, while feeding their dreams of haute couture.

Yves Saint Laurent redesigned men's wear for women with sleek pants suits, his famous "The Smoking", tuxedo jacket, and the Safari suit. Among his many brilliant innovations, he is responsible for introducing see-through blouses, the bolero jacket, the trapeze dress, the pea coat and the peasant top into high fashion. His designs adorned famous beauties like Catherine Deneuve and Iman, Bianca Jagger, Lauren Bacall and Paloma Picasso. So remarkable were his designs, that, in 1983, the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened an exhibition of his work, the first of its kind for a living designer.

The philosophy of Yves Saint Laurent might be summed up in his own words, “The most beautiful clothes that can dress a woman are the arms of the man she loves,” he once said. “But for those who haven’t had the fortune of finding this happiness, I am there.”