Photos By Gail
Yves Saint Laurent was hired was hired as Christian Dior’s assistant designer in June 1955. When Dior suddenly died in 1957 — even though he had expressed a desire for Saint Laurent to succeed him — the fashion house’s management was initially hesitant about putting its empire, which by then accounted for more than half of all French haute couture exports, in the hands of a 21-year-old.
Continue reading Eye On Design: Trapeze Summer Dress By YSL for House of Dior
Photos By Gail
Yves Saint Laurent’s fall 1965 collection was inspired by the paintings of Piet Mondrian. While it became one of Saint Laurent’s most famous collections, other designers had introduced similar designs before him. The Montreal Gazette claimed that color-blocked dresses by Michele Roiser had inspired Saint Laurent to “add a few black lines” to his own creations.
YSL dress seen here with a color block design by Lousi Feraud (circa 1967) on the left.
All Photos By Gail
This whimsical Wedding Ensemble from the Yves Saint Laurent Summer/Spring 1999 prêt–à–porter collection consists of two well positioned wreaths of flowers: a bikini-like bra top and hip-hugging bottom with a long train attached. For the ultra-confident bride! Continue reading Pink Thing of The Day: Wedding Ensemble By Yves Saint Laurent
For this weeks’ Video Clip, we have an amazing discovery with The Garden, a garage rock duo with both punk and goth leanings made up of 19-year-old identical twin hotties Wyatt and Fletcher Shears. You know that I am way past the stage where I am swayed by a pretty face, but these guys have so much more going for them than the model-quality good looks that won them an Yves Saint Laurent ad campaign with zero effort on their part. Most importantly, their music does not suck! With just bass (Wyatt) and drums (Fletcher), they manage to conjure the dark recesses of Bauhaus Meets Iggy Pop, and who could find fault with that? Answer: no one.
These guys have quite a musical pedigree as well, being the spawn of OC Punk royalty, namely Steven Shears, drummer for long-running group Shattered Faith, an Orange County fixture since 1978! Punk Rock! Schooled on the aggressive sounds of bands like Saccharine Trust, The Minutemen and Killing Joke, The Garden still remember to “Do the Song,” as I like to say.
The above clip for “What We Are” is comprised of a montage of graphics and still shots from the Saint Laurent campaign – nice! The Garden’s debut album, The Life And Times Of A Paperclip was released on July 23rd and can be purchased for download at This Link.
See an alternate version of the video below. Enjoy!
RIP Yves Saint Laurent
Fashion Designer legend Yves Saint Laurent passed away in Paris over the weekend (6/1/2008) at age 71. God knows I never wore any of his designs nor did I carry one of the many YSL knockoff handbags available for purchase every five feet along Canal Street. But I do recall that Aerosmith name-checked him in a song called “Combination” off Rocks…which is one of their better albums from the ’70s. RIP YSL.