RIP YSL
By raincoaster
This isn’t on my traditional Mommyblogging beat, but it has to be said.
Yves Saint Laurent, one of the greatest forces in fashion history, has died at the age of 71. His career was a testament not only to beauty and to women but also to his tenacity and struggle with disabilities both physical and mental. That he created so much of enduring worth is an eloquent legacy, thanks to his sometimes-victories over those challenges, and culture itself has been enriched by his body of work.
Here is some of it: His second collection, from 1962.
I was never a Saint Laurent woman, nor ever will be, but the immaculate, sexy, unattainable, vaguely bondage-inclined goddess is an icon of the Twentieth Century and such women as Catherine Deneuve, Loulou de la Falaise, Gisele Bundchen, and Linda Evangelista owe a large part of their fame to their ability to inspire and collaborate with YSL.
The YSL Manifesto. Let his own work stand as his eulogy:
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 am
And not only the important clothes, but the makeup! And the perfumes! Who does not remember Opium?
All are perfection.
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I had Opium, and when I tried it on, that is when I knew that I would never become the YSL woman. I just don’t have the unique mix of hot and cool. But that is not to say that I don’t admire it as a work of art and artifice.
The new edition of Paris, by the way, is the perfume I would buy myself if I had an extra $100 kicking around. It is light yet insistent, feminine, floral, and as delicate as a dragonfly’s wing. It is only available for a few months, though, and then it will be discontinued.