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Yves Saint Laurent: A Biography
This definitive portrait of the creative genius who transformed fashion is the first major English-language biography of Yves Saint Laurent since his death in 2008, featuring exclusive interviews of those who knew him best, by one of the most respected names in French fashion.
Yves Saint Laurent's impact on fashion is legendary, yet he remains an enigmatic and compelling figure. Tracing the development of Saint Laurent's visionary work through his charmed yet tumultuous life, respected fashion writer Laurence Benaïm's newly translated and updated biography of the famed designer explores how this unassuming prodigy became a legendary, celebrated public icon who changed the face of fashion, style, and celebrity.
Enriched by the author's exclusive interviews--from Saint Laurent's partner Pierre Bergé to family members, his atelier staff, and muses such as Catherine Deneueve, LouLou de la Falaise, and Paloma Picasso--this fascinating biography chronicles early glimpses of Saint Laurent's talent in Oran and his star trajectory, from leading the House of Dior at the age of twenty-one to his fall from grace and subsequent forging with Pierre Bergé, fashion's most enduring and successful professional partnership. In portraying the man behind the timeless icons of the Mondrian-print shift dress and the Le Smoking trouser suit--who partied with Warhol in New York and relaxed with the jet set in his Marrakesh hideaway--Benaïm powerfully illuminates both the glittering world of haute couture and the business empire that revolutionized the fashion industry.
Yves Saint Laurent's impact on fashion is legendary, yet he remains an enigmatic and compelling figure. Tracing the development of Saint Laurent's visionary work through his charmed yet tumultuous life, respected fashion writer Laurence Benaïm's newly translated and updated biography of the famed designer explores how this unassuming prodigy became a legendary, celebrated public icon who changed the face of fashion, style, and celebrity.
Enriched by the author's exclusive interviews--from Saint Laurent's partner Pierre Bergé to family members, his atelier staff, and muses such as Catherine Deneueve, LouLou de la Falaise, and Paloma Picasso--this fascinating biography chronicles early glimpses of Saint Laurent's talent in Oran and his star trajectory, from leading the House of Dior at the age of twenty-one to his fall from grace and subsequent forging with Pierre Bergé, fashion's most enduring and successful professional partnership. In portraying the man behind the timeless icons of the Mondrian-print shift dress and the Le Smoking trouser suit--who partied with Warhol in New York and relaxed with the jet set in his Marrakesh hideaway--Benaïm powerfully illuminates both the glittering world of haute couture and the business empire that revolutionized the fashion industry.
544 pages, Hardcover
Published March 19, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 24, 2021
Oh boy I want to say SO much about this book.
I enjoyed reading about all YSL’s artist collaborations (he is in fact the designer that appreciated/related his work MOST with modern art), how involved he was with his creative productions with iconic photographers such as Helmut Newton and Irving Penn. The book intensively praised him almost being the founding father of french feminist dressing? - from 1965 Mondrian-inspired collection, which were truly original; the first female tuxedo, constantly praised through the book as the master’s iconic creation, was present since the 1920s and frequently worn by luminaries such as Louise Brooks, Josephine Baker, and Marlene Dietrich. A great amount of Saint Laurent’s work, in my own humble opinion, is reminiscent of his mentor, Christian Dior, and of other truly original designers such as Givenchy and Balenciaga. And he most certainly did NOT invent pret-à-porter, although Benaim doesn’t quite make such a claim. His true talent lay not so much in practical clothes (many other designers provided that) but in extravagant, elaborate creations such as the Russian Peasant collection, the Imperial Chinese collection and several others.
The book also suffers from needless and annoying name droppings. It’s almost like the author wants to make sure that you are aware of how many people she knows. Everyone she can think of makes an appearance whether needed or not, from Elsa Schiapparelii to Antoine Watteau, René Descartes to Richard Wagner. It is too rich of a cake. Besides the names of a multitude of obscure writers, artists, socialites and show business figures unknown outside of a limited circle of Parisian cognoscenti, there are endless references to Marcel Proust’s bloated roman à clef, Remembrance of Things Past, apparently it was Saint Laurent’s Bible. Benaim definitely want to make sure that you know she’s read it.
The biggest disappointment is the total lack of illustrations, especially in view of the fact that Rizzoli is one of the most exceptional publishers of quality art books. Yet this FAT volume (600 pages) contains not a single photograph of Saint Laurent, his family or friends. Not one picture of the most successful couture collections, stage and film designs or of the countless drawings and sketches that illuminate the artist’s methods and thinking processes. No views of his many residences, his art collections, his idiosyncratic decorating preferences. NOTHING.
ANOTHER big crime of the book, is that a brief chronology has been added at END of the book outlining the dates of the deaths of Saint Laurent, Pierre Bergé, Loulou de La Falaise and a few other characters, plus a brief mention of the overhyped, record-breaking auction that followed awkwardly and hurriedly after Saint Laurent’s funeral. ALLLLL of this material, plus the couturier’s final retreat to Marrakesh and his lonely, sad decline and death of a brain tumor in 2008 should have been included to round off the narrative.
Overall I came out of this long bible size biography without finding anything about Yves Saint Laurent that I didn’t already know and feeling frustrated that much relevant information had been omitted. (3.5/5)
I enjoyed reading about all YSL’s artist collaborations (he is in fact the designer that appreciated/related his work MOST with modern art), how involved he was with his creative productions with iconic photographers such as Helmut Newton and Irving Penn. The book intensively praised him almost being the founding father of french feminist dressing? - from 1965 Mondrian-inspired collection, which were truly original; the first female tuxedo, constantly praised through the book as the master’s iconic creation, was present since the 1920s and frequently worn by luminaries such as Louise Brooks, Josephine Baker, and Marlene Dietrich. A great amount of Saint Laurent’s work, in my own humble opinion, is reminiscent of his mentor, Christian Dior, and of other truly original designers such as Givenchy and Balenciaga. And he most certainly did NOT invent pret-à-porter, although Benaim doesn’t quite make such a claim. His true talent lay not so much in practical clothes (many other designers provided that) but in extravagant, elaborate creations such as the Russian Peasant collection, the Imperial Chinese collection and several others.
The book also suffers from needless and annoying name droppings. It’s almost like the author wants to make sure that you are aware of how many people she knows. Everyone she can think of makes an appearance whether needed or not, from Elsa Schiapparelii to Antoine Watteau, René Descartes to Richard Wagner. It is too rich of a cake. Besides the names of a multitude of obscure writers, artists, socialites and show business figures unknown outside of a limited circle of Parisian cognoscenti, there are endless references to Marcel Proust’s bloated roman à clef, Remembrance of Things Past, apparently it was Saint Laurent’s Bible. Benaim definitely want to make sure that you know she’s read it.
The biggest disappointment is the total lack of illustrations, especially in view of the fact that Rizzoli is one of the most exceptional publishers of quality art books. Yet this FAT volume (600 pages) contains not a single photograph of Saint Laurent, his family or friends. Not one picture of the most successful couture collections, stage and film designs or of the countless drawings and sketches that illuminate the artist’s methods and thinking processes. No views of his many residences, his art collections, his idiosyncratic decorating preferences. NOTHING.
ANOTHER big crime of the book, is that a brief chronology has been added at END of the book outlining the dates of the deaths of Saint Laurent, Pierre Bergé, Loulou de La Falaise and a few other characters, plus a brief mention of the overhyped, record-breaking auction that followed awkwardly and hurriedly after Saint Laurent’s funeral. ALLLLL of this material, plus the couturier’s final retreat to Marrakesh and his lonely, sad decline and death of a brain tumor in 2008 should have been included to round off the narrative.
Overall I came out of this long bible size biography without finding anything about Yves Saint Laurent that I didn’t already know and feeling frustrated that much relevant information had been omitted. (3.5/5)
September 5, 2021
This book is an excellent history of the house of Yves Saint Laurent and an important work for the history of fashion. However, if you are looking to learn/understand more about the man himself you will be sorely disappointed. His personal life and relationships are sprinkled in, but never in a substantial way.
April 17, 2022
"At age twenty-one, Yves entered the kingdom of the doomed, swallowing the poison that had made Dior king, offering him his greatest joys and his greatest suffering."
There's a lot to say about this biography, I'm not sure where to start. Overall, I thought it was good. Particularly when it came to covering his early years in Oran and describing his creative processes (from sketch to toile to finished garment, you get a good sense of life inside the atelier in certain chapters). Benaïm also did a great job reviewing his work outside of haute couture for films, music hall, ballet and theatre productions. The inclusion of Yves' poetry from his youth was also quite revealing (and sweet!). There were lots of interesting interview subjects who gave a unique (and brutally honest) perspective on Yves at times: Jeanloup Sieff, the Lalannes, Roland Petit, and Jacques Grange, not to mention Yves and Pierre Bergé themselves.
Although, I thought the first section of the book was a bit difficult to read, it just didn't hold my attention. I don't know if it's because lots of the information in the first half is pretty standard, or it was the translation. There are so many aspects of his life left unanalyzed and details that are unsaid, creating lots of gaps (thankfully The Beautiful Fall, for example, fills in some of those gaps). She did fairly-well exploring his reclusiveness and retreat into fantasy after the mid-1970s. I felt that it picked up once the book got into the 1980s, especially when Pierre Bergé begins to emerge from behind Yves' shadows and becomes a public figure in his own right. Actually, this book probably has the most "complex" description of Bergé I've read. It's easy to forget that he wasn't just a businessman, because at the end of the day he was much more complex than that. As Benaïm points out, he was probably the only owner who "rolled up his sleeves on the day of a fashion show." (And this description of him really stood out, as well: ("As they say in the Army, Berge had "brass balls." He denounced racism, which he considered "the most disgusting thing in the world." He cracked the whip. He pushed forward. He asserted himself. He made mistakes. He yelled even louder when he found out he was wrong. He didn't hesitate much. He was a player and a Pygmalion.")
However, the book was flawed in ways that are difficult to overlook. First of all, it's important to realize that it was first published in France in 1993, re-issued in 2002, and then translated into English in 2018. Benaïm had the time to create an exhaustive timeline (literally, no one is reading the book to read about YSL Beauty campaigns from 2016) and a playlist "inspired" by Yves, but not update the book post-2002 in any meaningful way. It's obvious that the book was finally translated to English and released in 2018 to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Yves' death, well that's at least what you'd think. I'm not sure that this was the case.
It's disappointing that the book ends 2002 after the couture house closed. The only time his death is mentioned is briefly in the introduction and in the timeline. Which is just absolutely bizarre, especially since Benaïm actually wrote a small book in 2010 discussing a few details of Yves' last years, his full retreat into seclusion, final illness/death, and his funeral. Even his funeral is worth talking about as it contains so much symbolism (the coffin draped in yellow with sheaves of wheat sewn on it, by his ateliers). It also feels bizarre, because there's no conclusion... no desire to delve into WHY he was important, where his influence remains 16 years after his retirement and 10 years after his death. It felt really lazy and was a cheap way to end the book.
There's a lot to say about this biography, I'm not sure where to start. Overall, I thought it was good. Particularly when it came to covering his early years in Oran and describing his creative processes (from sketch to toile to finished garment, you get a good sense of life inside the atelier in certain chapters). Benaïm also did a great job reviewing his work outside of haute couture for films, music hall, ballet and theatre productions. The inclusion of Yves' poetry from his youth was also quite revealing (and sweet!). There were lots of interesting interview subjects who gave a unique (and brutally honest) perspective on Yves at times: Jeanloup Sieff, the Lalannes, Roland Petit, and Jacques Grange, not to mention Yves and Pierre Bergé themselves.
Although, I thought the first section of the book was a bit difficult to read, it just didn't hold my attention. I don't know if it's because lots of the information in the first half is pretty standard, or it was the translation. There are so many aspects of his life left unanalyzed and details that are unsaid, creating lots of gaps (thankfully The Beautiful Fall, for example, fills in some of those gaps). She did fairly-well exploring his reclusiveness and retreat into fantasy after the mid-1970s. I felt that it picked up once the book got into the 1980s, especially when Pierre Bergé begins to emerge from behind Yves' shadows and becomes a public figure in his own right. Actually, this book probably has the most "complex" description of Bergé I've read. It's easy to forget that he wasn't just a businessman, because at the end of the day he was much more complex than that. As Benaïm points out, he was probably the only owner who "rolled up his sleeves on the day of a fashion show." (And this description of him really stood out, as well: ("As they say in the Army, Berge had "brass balls." He denounced racism, which he considered "the most disgusting thing in the world." He cracked the whip. He pushed forward. He asserted himself. He made mistakes. He yelled even louder when he found out he was wrong. He didn't hesitate much. He was a player and a Pygmalion.")
However, the book was flawed in ways that are difficult to overlook. First of all, it's important to realize that it was first published in France in 1993, re-issued in 2002, and then translated into English in 2018. Benaïm had the time to create an exhaustive timeline (literally, no one is reading the book to read about YSL Beauty campaigns from 2016) and a playlist "inspired" by Yves, but not update the book post-2002 in any meaningful way. It's obvious that the book was finally translated to English and released in 2018 to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Yves' death, well that's at least what you'd think. I'm not sure that this was the case.
It's disappointing that the book ends 2002 after the couture house closed. The only time his death is mentioned is briefly in the introduction and in the timeline. Which is just absolutely bizarre, especially since Benaïm actually wrote a small book in 2010 discussing a few details of Yves' last years, his full retreat into seclusion, final illness/death, and his funeral. Even his funeral is worth talking about as it contains so much symbolism (the coffin draped in yellow with sheaves of wheat sewn on it, by his ateliers). It also feels bizarre, because there's no conclusion... no desire to delve into WHY he was important, where his influence remains 16 years after his retirement and 10 years after his death. It felt really lazy and was a cheap way to end the book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews