1980s Yves Saint Laurent Red Teardrop Sunglasses
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2038216981292
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 1 day of delivery.
- 1980s Rossignol Blue Mirrored Aviator SunglassesLocated in London, GBOffering premium protection and a secure fit, Rossignol's Mirrored Blue Frame Sunglasses, boasting white leather side shields and gradient dark b...Category
1970s French Sunglasses
- 1990s Valentino by Oliver aviator sunglassesBy Oliver by ValentinoLocated in London, GB1990s Valentino by Oliver aviator sunglasses in gold tone frame and dark brown lens in very good vintage condition, 1990sCategory
1990s Italian Sunglasses
- 1970s Cazal Cat-Eye Oversized SunglassesBy CazalLocated in London, GBSplendid 1970s Cazal Cat-Eye Oversized Sunglasses, made in West Germany. Model 168, col 219. Divel Italia CR39 gradient tinted lenses are non-prescription,...Category
1970s German Sunglasses
- 1990s Christian Dior Green Cannage Cat-Eye SunglassesBy Christian DiorLocated in London, GB1990s Christian Dior Sunglasses, green frame of Cannage pattern, cat-eye design, brown lenses, CD metal logo on both temples, Made in Germany Condition: 1990s, vintage, like new, original Dior pouch...Category
1990s German Sunglasses
- 1980s Christian Dior Bowie Amber Animal Print Oversized SunglassesBy Christian DiorLocated in London, GBChristian Dior Bowie Amber Animal Print Oversized Sunglasses, gradient brown lenses, CD logo on side, Made in Austria Condition: 1980s, excellent vintage, no damage or scratches, con...Category
1980s French Sunglasses
- 2000s Christian Dior Stripe Cat-Eye SunglassesBy Christian DiorLocated in London, GB2000s Christian Dior Stripe Cat-Eye Sunglasses, dark blue stripe pattern Constructed of high-grade acetate, these sunglasses are designed to be both stylis...Category
Early 2000s Italian Sunglasses
- Yves Saint Laurent Vintage Glasses (galatee 444v)By Yves Saint LaurentLocated in Montreal, QuebecCOLOR: Gold/white/transparent CODE STAMPS: GALATEE 444V SIZE STAMP: 55☐14 FRAME MATERIAL: Acetate MEASURES~ Arms: 110 mm Lens width: 55 mm Lens height: 45 mm Bridge: 14 mm COMES WI...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Sunglasses
- Vintage Faconnable EyeglassesLocated in North Hollywood, CAVintage Faconnable eyeglasses. Vintage glasses Faconnable circa 1980s Glasses are delivered without a case. Have an optician adjust your glasses correctly so that they fit well. New ...Category
1980s Italian Sunglasses
- Fendi Caramel Brown and Black Fs370 Ff Bug Eye 5ff65 SunglassesBy FendiLocated in Dix hills, NYgood Condition (7/10 or B) Minor marks on lenses.Category
20th Century Sunglasses
- New Vintage Ray Ban Decot 10 K Gold 62Mm Kalichrome Lenses 1970's B&L SunglassesBy Ray-BanLocated in Baleares, BalearesNew Vintage Ray Ban Decot 10 K gold frame holding pair of amber kalichrome lenses. Made in USA. Comes with its original Ray Ban B&L case. Please notice this i...Category
1980s American Sunglasses
- New Vintage Emanuelle Khanh Paris 8080 Monogrammed Sunglasses FranceBy Emanuelle Kahn, Emmanuelle KahnLocated in Baleares, BalearesNew Vintage Emanuelle Kahn honey beige frame monogrammed with spotless gradient lenses. Made in Paris. Produced and design in 1980's. New, never wor...Category
1980s French Sunglasses
- New Vintage Solid Oversized Tortoise Frame Brown Lenses 70'S Made in FranceLocated in Baleares, BalearesNew Vintage Solid Oversized Tortoise Frame Holding a pair of spotless Medium Brown Lenses Superb Quality, Even Better Design. New, Never Worn Or Displayed this item may show m...Category
1970s Unknown Sunglasses
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.