Yves Saint Laurent: Icons of Fashion Design & Photography

“A compelling assemblage of YSL couture and ready-to-wear pieces worn by fashion icons from the ’60s through ’80s (Audrey Hepburn, Veruschka) ties a bow on a career that still astonishes.” - Avenue Magazine

Yves Saint Laurent was equipped with an infallible instinct for reading the aesthetic signs of the times, and this enabled him to have a profound effect on fashion. This indispensable book traces the success of his haute couture and ready-to-wear designs from 1962 to 1988 through the lens of the world’s leading fashion photographers, including Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, William Klein, and more. Inside, 135 photographs document Saint Laurent’s groundbreaking designs worn by the most beautiful women of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s: Audrey Hepburn, Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton, Mounia, and Veruschka.

Saint Laurent was one of France’s most prominent fashion designers. From his work at Dior to the time of his founding his eponymous YSL fashion label in 1962 to his death in 2008, his work was a force in an industry full of big names and successful houses. In 1985, fashion historian Caroline Milbank wrote, “The most consistently celebrated and influential designer of the past twenty-five years, Yves Saint Laurent can be credited with both spurring the couture’s rise from its 1960s ashes and with finally rendering ready-to-wear reputable.” He developed his style to accommodate the changes in fashion during that period. He approached his aesthetic from a different perspective by helping women find confidence by looking both comfortable and elegant at the same time.

With an introduction by writer and filmmaker Marguerite Duras, this classic volume documents Saint Laurent’s ever-evolving artistry and the combined efforts of the world’s most talented fashion photographers—and is as beautiful and rewarding as one of Saint Laurent’s creations.