Yves Saint Laurent's Studio

Book excerpt: Saint Laurent was a key artist of the 20th century. Today to many his name evokes the reefer jacket, the trench-coat, the Mondrian dress, the smoking jacket and feminine trouser suits. He is remembered as the man who gave the safari jacket a new lease of life and as the man who stood out from the rest with his famous transparent dresses. The first fashion designer to parade Asian and African models on the catwalk, he also worked in tandem with the theatre and cinema. Furthermore, he was the first leading couturier to lend his name to a pret-à-porter range, Rive Gauche, while maintaining his haute couture activities. But what do we really know about the man beyond his renown? Here, the author opens up the door to Yves Saint Laurent's studio and invites us into the great creator's nerve centre, where everything took place, where the work and artist became one. Here we see how Saint Laurent set about his creations, the secrets behind his approach, providing a voyage of initiation through his hideaway where the master alchemist shares his secret formulae.