1987 Yves Saint Laurent Pink Silk Asymmetric Dress with Belt
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Length: 44 in (111.76 cm)Marked Size: 4 (US)Bust: 36 in (91.44 cm)Waist: 28 in (71.12 cm)Hip: 42 in (106.68 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU55018563812
Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche
Visionary French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent was the first to launch a ready-to-wear label, YSL Rive Gauche Prêt-à-Porter. The inaugural Rive Gauche boutique — a modern shop in Paris’s bustling, bohemian Left Bank district — offered stylish garments and accessories that were intended to be affordable for a younger generation of fashion enthusiasts. The store featured Mies van der Rohe chairs and played host to actor Catherine Deneuve during its grand opening.
Saint Laurent pioneered “cross-design” in fashion, taking inspiration from street trends to modernize haute couture. He was the first couturier to open boutiques for both men and women. Using traditional menswear fabrics and designs for women, he also literally cross-dressed, giving men and women alike chic pant suits, elegant tuxedo jackets and urban safari gear. By blurring gender-specific design, he empowered individual style while creating a scissor-sharp fashion aesthetic of sensual ease and beauty. Many of his designs are today considered timeless classics. Saint Laurent also consistently used Black models, like Mounia, Iman and Naomi Campbell, and he drew endless inspiration from different ethnicities and cultures, in no small part because of his Algerian roots.
Born to French parents in Oran, Algeria, in 1936, Saint Laurent went to Paris at age 17 to study fashion at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Just two years later, in 1955, his remarkable sketches were shown to Christian Dior, then the world’s reigning couturier, who hired him immediately.
Surprisingly soon thereafter, Dior publicly chose Saint Laurent as his successor, which sadly proved prescient when the fashion legend died unexpectedly, in 1957. A mere slip of a youth, the 21-year-old Saint Laurent was nevertheless up to the challenge. He shook the traditional couture clientele to its core with youthful silhouettes and styles like the A-line trapeze dress that hung with seeming effortlessness from the shoulders, the antithesis of the pinched waists and molded skirts that had been all the rage after the deprivations of World War II.
After a mandated spell in the torturous French military, Saint Laurent suffered a nervous breakdown and was dismissed by Dior in 1962. Out of the ashes rose the Age of Yves. With Pierre Bergé, his then-lover who became his lifelong business partner and friend, the designer founded Yves Saint Laurent YSL to encompass prêt-à-porter, or ready-to-wear. In 1966, they opened the first YSL Rive Gauche women’s boutique in Paris — Rive Gauche is French for “left bank” — followed soon thereafter by YSL Rive Gauche for men. Ready-to-wear materialized during a period of dynamic transformation and experimentation and came to dominate the Paris fashion scene. Saint Laurent had given birth to a global brand.
His revolutionary Mondrian mini dress from 1965 is a core element of his fashion biography. It is a prime example of how Saint Laurent, an avid art lover and collector, looked to painters, from Goya to Picasso, Ingres to Matisse, for inspiration.
With its pure lines and hues, Mondrian’s ground-breaking 1935 color-block painting Composition C transmutes beautifully into a dress that is highly valued by collectors of contemporary fashion and widely copied commercially to this day. The design is the epitome of Saint Laurent’s aesthetic, requiring a meticulous hand piecing of each color block so that, despite the body’s curves, the visual plane is as flat as a canvas when the garment is worn. Mondrian’s purity met its match in Saint Laurent.
“I am no longer concerned with sensation and innovation, but with the perfection of my style,” Saint Laurent said four years before retiring, in 2002. After a long period of ill health, he died at his home in Paris on June 1, 2008.
The vintage YSL Rive Gauche clothing for sale on 1stDibs includes evening dresses and gowns, jackets, shoes, handbags and other items.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: London, United Kingdom
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- 1950s Christian Dior Paris Pink Silk Damask DressBy Christian DiorLocated in London, GBThis dress is an extraordinary Parisian made example from the early days of the house of Christian Dior and we have been fortunate to handle this same dress twice in the last 20 year...Category
1950s French Cocktail Dresses
- 1960s Hannalore Pink Silk Chiffon Sequined Pleated DressLocated in London, GBThis sensational 1960s silk chiffon pleated evening dress by Hannalore of London combines fairy tale glamour with a striking and elegant line. The dress is a sleeveless shift cut wit...Category
1960s British Evening Gowns
- 1920s Pink Full Length Lame Flapper DressLocated in London, GBThis very late 1920s / early 1930s full length pink flapper dress with aztec style gold and silver woven lame design is in excellent vintage condition for a piece of this era and wou...Category
1920s British Evening Dresses and Gowns
- 1990s Guy Laroche Couture Pink Silk Crepe DressBy Guy LarocheLocated in London, GBExceptional Guy Laroche couture colour block evening gown which dates to between 1985 and 1991 and was most likely designed by Laroche himself prio...Category
1990s French Evening Dresses
- 1950s Magenta Jacquard Print Floral Evening DressLocated in London, GBA superb and magnificent magenta coloured floral print satin evening dress from the mid-1950s. Formal wear from this era is becoming increasingly difficult to source and this is a b...Category
1950s British Ball Gowns
- 1960s By Roter Navy Blue Pink and Silver Banded DressLocated in London, GBTimeless 1960s occasion wear dress by high quality vintage British brand - Roter. This is their ready to wear label although its as good as their couture garments and the quality is exceptional. This is made from a silk/linen/manmade blend which has the appearance of raw silk. The bodice is a crisscross design with a beautifully constructed wide empire waistband that has a painted wooden oval belt...Category
1960s British Cocktail Dresses
- Vintage 1950's Duchess Satin Sweet Pink Pleated Dress UK 8-10 US 4-6Located in Cheltenham, GBA true beauty to behold. This original 1950's duchess satin dress, rendered in a soft shade of sweet pink and accented by the most divine pleat wor...Category
1950s Cocktail Dresses
- S/S 1990 Vintage Yves Saint Laurent Magenta Pink Wool Shift DressBy Yves Saint LaurentLocated in Portland, ORThis is a vintage Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche magenta pink wool shift dress from the Spring / Summer 1990 collection. This dress has long sleeves and side slit pockets, with built...Category
1990s European Shift Dresses
- Pretty Pink Grecian Style Gown by NoliLocated in London, GBA wonderful and easy to wear and pack, pink Grecian style gown in a silk and cotton mix. With wonderful pleat detail, the dress has a v neckline a...Category
1990s British Evening Dresses and Gowns
- 1970s Janice Wainwright Raspberry Pink Belted Vintage 70s Wool Midi DressBy Janice WainwrightLocated in San Diego, CAAmazing late 70s JANICE WAINWRIGHT raspberry pink long dolman sleeve wool felt midi dress ! Fabric covered buttons at left shoulder, and hidden zipper up the side. Pockets at each si...Category
1970s English Cocktail Dresses
- Velvet dress JC de CastelbajacBy Jean-Charles de CastelbajacLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRCastelbajac - Velvet long dress decorated with sequins. No size label or composition, it corresponds to a size 36FR/38FR. Additional information: Dimensions: Shoulder width: 40 cm,...Category
1990s French Evening Dresses
- Shocking pink draped cocktail dress with ruffles Lillie Rubin Circa 1980By Lillie RubinLocated in Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, FRShocking pink draped cocktail dress with ruffles. Main fabric and lining composition: acétate. Zip in the middle back. Boned on the side. Bra inside the bustier. SIZE MCategory
1980s American Cocktail Dresses