1990s Yves Saint Laurent Navy Blazer Skirt Suit
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: 2-4 (US)Bust: 36 in (91.44 cm)Waist: 26 in (66.04 cm)Hip: 34 in (86.36 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU55016650822
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.
Yves Saint Laurent
French designer Yves Saint Laurent pioneered “cross-design” in fashion, taking inspiration from street trends to modernize haute couture.
Saint Laurent was the first to launch a ready-to-wear label, YSL Rive Gauche Prêt-à-Porter. He was the first couturier to open boutiques for both men and women. Using traditional menswear fabrics and designs for women, Saint Laurent also literally cross-dressed, giving men and women alike chic pant suits, elegant tuxedo jackets and urban safari gear.
By blurring gender-specific design, Saint Laurent 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, followed soon thereafter by YSL Rive Gauche for men. 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.
Browse an extraordinary collection of vintage Yves Saint Laurent evening dresses, shirts, handbags and other clothing and accessories today on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: London, United Kingdom
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- 1950s Suzanne Pardo Couture Blue Floral Dress and Jacket SuitLocated in London, GBThis 1950s French Couture Suzanne Pardo dress set is made with a beautiful iridescent silk in a pretty floral print. The dress has a classic 50s silhouette, with a more fitted bodice...Category
1950s French Dress and Coat Ensembles
- 2003 Givenchy Fall Haute Couture Green Velvet Skirt SuitBy Julien Macdonald, GivenchyLocated in London, GBThis is an an exceptional green velvet cocktail suit by Julien Macdonald for Givenchy's Fall/Winter Haute Couture 2003 presentation and is look number 2. The jacket features unusual gathered puff shoulders and a tapered sleeve with a zip detail at each cuff, creating a romantic, almost Victorian...Category
Early 2000s French Skirt Suits
- 2015 Chanel Black Boucle Wool and Gripoix Dress SuitBy ChanelLocated in London, GBThis fabulous 2015 Fall/Winter Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld black dress suit has a contemporary feel while still retaining the classic signatures of Chanel t...Category
2010s British Dress and Coat Ensembles
- 1960s Black and Red Polka Dot Demi Couture Dress and JacketLocated in London, GBThis 1960s red and black polka dot American demi-couture ensemble is in beautiful vintage condition and of excellent quality; however, is unlabelled and so the designer remains unkno...Category
1960s American Dress and Coat Ensembles
- 1950’s Black Silk Couture Fitted Evening Pencil Skirt and Top SetLocated in London, GBFabulous 1950’s couture but unlabelled evening ensemble consisting of a black silk asymmetrical top with multiple spaghetti straps and a full-length pencil skirt. The top features ...Category
1950s American Suits, Outfits and Ensembles
- 1970s Elissa Pleated Cotton Maxi Skirt and Floral Top SetLocated in London, GBThis lovely 1970s pleated cotton outfit from American brand/ Elissa is made up of two separates along with a matching floral fabric tie belt to draw in the waist. The ankle length sk...Category
1970s American Suits, Outfits and Ensembles
- Dolce & Gabbana black wool embroidered 3-piece evening ensemble, ss 1999By Dolce & GabbanaLocated in London, GB- Slim fit pants - Vest with built in bra - Obi belt Spring-Summer 1999Category
1990s Italian Suits, Outfits and Ensembles
- Dolce & Gabbana silk chiffon blouse and skirt pants set, ss 1998By Dolce & GabbanaLocated in London, GB▪ Dolce & Gabbana chiffon set ▪ 90% Silk, 10% Lycra ▪ Loose-fit blouse with large scarf collar ▪ Fitted leggings with attached mini skirt ▪ IT 38 - FR ...Category
1990s Italian Suits, Outfits and Ensembles
- Gianni Versace navy blue open-knit bodycon dress and cardigan set, fw 1993By Gianni VersaceLocated in London, GB▪ Gianni Versace navy blue open-knit dress and cardigan 2 piece set ▪ Sleeveless bodycon maxi dress with lining ▪ Long-sleeve full-length cardigan ▪ Gold Medusa buttons ▪ Can be wo...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- 1980s Escada Green Pink Blue & Orange Plaid 2 pc Dress w/ Skirt & Linen TopBy EscadaLocated in Portland, ORThis is a beautiful ensemble from the 1980's designed by Margaretha Ley for Escada. The outfit has a pleated midi length skirt that buttons down the front. It is made of linen in an ...Category
1980s German Day Dresses
- Chanel 1980's Navy Cotton Cinched Waist Jacket Skirt Suit - Size 38By ChanelLocated in West Palm Beach, FLChanel Navy Cotton Jacket and Skirt Suit with Cinched Waist - Size 38 - 1980's. This set is a very unique Chanel look and truly a collectible piece. The straight skirt has a a waistb...Category
1980s French Skirt Suits
- Oscar de la Renta Black Velvet Skirt Suit with White Embroidery - 10 - 1990sBy Oscar De La RentaLocated in West Palm Beach, FLOscar de la Renta Black Velvet Skirt Suit with White Embroidery - 10 - 1990s. This skirt suit is in excellent vintage condition with light wear to the velvet and embroidery. The jack...Category
1990s American Suits, Outfits and Ensembles
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
How to Spot a Fake YSL Bag
Counterfeiters know that savvy fashionistas cherish YSL bags. Learn how to tell if yours is the real deal. Of course, you don't have to worry about that on 1stDibs, where every seller is highly vetted.
Quiet Luxury May Be Trending, but These Famous Interiors Prove That Quality and Quirk Endure
Because truly timeless design requires personal vision, transcendent taste, real fortitude and top-notch objects, even if the wider world hasn’t caught on yet.