Yves Saint Laurent Gilded Metal Compact in Heart Shape
About the Item
- Creator:
- Metal:
- Dimensions:Height: 2.37 in (60 mm)Length: 2.37 in (60 mm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Circa 1990
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FR
- Reference Number:
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: SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, France
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Barrette in Golden Metal and Pink Glass PasteLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FR(Made in France) Barrette in golden metal and pink glass paste. Not signed. Small crack on a leaf on the back. Additional information: Condition: Very good condition Dimensions: 9 c...Category
Vintage 1970s French Vanity Items
MaterialsGilt Metal
- Hermes Paperweight Leather and Gold Plate Belt BuckleBy HermèsLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRHermes -Paperweight leather and gold plate representing a belt buckle - personal item with a date and initial R.B. Additional information: Dimensions: Length: 21.5 cm (8.46"), Widt...Category
Vintage 1970s French Desk Accessories
MaterialsGilt Metal
- Chanel "Escarpin" Pin's in Gold Metal Enamelled with BlackBy Karl Lagerfeld for ChanelLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRChanel -(Made in France) Pin's representing a pump in gold metal enamelled with black. Fall/Winter 2002 collection. Brooch designed by Karl Largerfeld for Chanel. Work by the Woloc...Category
Early 2000s French More Objets d'Art and Vertu
MaterialsEnamel, Gilt Metal
- Hermes Paperweight in Solid Silver CaduceusBy HermèsLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRHermes -Paperweight in solid silver representing a caduceus. Additional information: Dimensions: Length: 10 cm (3.93"), Width: 7.5 cm (2.95") Condition: Very good condition Seller ...Category
Vintage 1970s French Desk Accessories
MaterialsSilver
- Christian Dior Silver Plated Metal Brooch with Imposing RhinestonesBy Christian DiorLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRDior - Silver plated metal brooch with imposing rhinestones. Additional information: Dimensions: 10 H cm Condition: Very good condition Seller Ref number: BR154Category
1990s French Brooches
MaterialsSilver Plate
- Valentino Golden Metal Earrings Ornamented w/ Rhinestone & Glass Paste CabochonsBy ValentinoLocated in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FRValentino - Golden metal earrings ornamented with rhinestones and green glass paste cabochons. Additional information: Condition: Very good condition Dimensions: Height: 2 cm Selle...Category
1990s Hoop Earrings
- 1920s Richard Hudnut Dubarry Perfume Bottle Glass Dauber Moulded Frosted StopperLocated in Sausalito, CAThis very rare minature perfume bottle once held the perfume Dubarry by Richard Hudnut. Size: 2-1/4" tall x 1-1/8" wide x 1/2" thick. Condition: For decorative purposes only. The s...Category
Vintage 1920s American Art Nouveau Vanity Items
- Antique Victorian Stickpin 14 Karat Gold Agate Jasper Opal Tigereye CabochonLocated in Munich, BavariaThis charming gold stick pin features a variation of hard stone cabochons, tiger eye, malachite, opal set in 14 karat gold. The principal stickpin is joined by a gold chain to a se...Category
Antique 1880s Victorian Vanity Items
MaterialsAgate, Jasper, Gold, 14k Gold
- Vintage Renaud Pelligrino for Harry Winston Satin & Diamond Clutch / Jewelry BoxBy Renaud PellegrinoLocated in Philadelphia, PAVintage Renaud Pelligrino for Harry Winston red satin evening box w/ 18k yellow gold and diamond accent, which can be used as a clutch or jewelry box...Category
Late 20th Century Boxes and Cases
MaterialsDiamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
- Vintage Sterling Silver and Gold Powder CompactLocated in beverly hills, CAThis charming and beautifully detailed vintage sterling silver and gold powder compact features intricate hand engraving to create a delightful and...Category
20th Century Vanity Items
MaterialsGold, Sterling Silver
- Rare Important Estate 20th C Cranberry Color French Glass Liquor Perfume BottleLocated in New York, NYThe Following Item we are offering is a Rare French Cranberry Etched Glass Perfume / Liquor Bottle. Bottle is Etched with Clusters of Grapes and Beautiful Glass Ball Top. Beautifully done with Exquisite Detail. From a Rare New York...Category
20th Century Vanity Items
MaterialsCrystal
- Lovely Exquisite 19th Century French Sterling Silver Bointaburet Hairbrush brushLocated in New York, NYThe Following Items we are Offering is An Outstanding Museum Quality French 19th Century Sterling Silver Hair Brush by Maison BOIN TABURET with Ivory...Category
Antique 19th Century European Vanity Items
MaterialsSterling Silver
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.