This past weekend I went to the
Yves Saint-Laurent exhibit at the Denver Art Museum, (http://www.denverartmuseum.org/exhibitions/yves-saint-laurent-retrospective). The exhibit had dozens of
original Yves Saint Laurent designs and many interactive video’s and recorded
speeches by Saint Laurent himself, who died in 2008. I was fascinated by Saint
Laurent’s unique take on the female body within the world of fashion. Saint
Laurent insisted on designing his clothes on an actual female body, rather than
adhering to an unrealistic mannequin, so that his clothes fit to flatter a real
woman, rather than a mold of unrealistic proportions. Saint Laurent often said
that the most beautiful thing in the world is the naked body, and was known for
his controversial use of lace and see-through fabric in the late 1960’s.
It seemed that Yves Saint Laurent
was able to more accurately design for a female’s comfort, style and individual
sexuality of the woman wearing the clothes, rather than the sexuality imposed
upon a woman’s body by men. Many of the designs were rather unflattering on the
mannequins, but once on a woman’s body in photographs and magazine spreads, the
garments came alive, and many famous women of the last fifty years raved about
the comfort and femininity of Yves Saint Laurent’s style.
He is also known for introducing the
first ready to wear clothing line; a haute couture fashion line that was
affordable for the everyday woman. Yves Saint Laurent is known for introducing
the safari jacket, but particularly the smoking jacket for women. He stylized
the suit and man’s tuxedo for a woman who is strong, confident, and beautiful.
This exhibit was really interesting because it brought the issue of women’s
body and who “owns” them into the forefront in a completely different way than
I’d ever considered it before. This exhibit is incredible, I highly recommend
it whether you enjoy fashion or not!
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ReplyDeleteI was fortunate enough to get tickets to see the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit last weekend as well! I thought the Denver Art Museum did an amazing job of displaying and producing this exhibit although it will only be featured in Denver until July 8th. Therefore I suggest (and would strongly encourage) you all to take trip down to the museum to check it out while it’s still here!- They have numerous photographs, drawings, short-clip films, and fashion illustrations of Laurent’s work that highlight his progression in being one of the most famous French fashion & garment designers to date. I also learned that Laurent was not just extremely influential during the development of the woman’s tuxedo suit but also in introducing the use of ethnic models in runway shows. This pertains to many of the discussions we had though out the quarter and is parallel to many of the same struggles faced by the Native American student guest speaker that came to share their stories with us. Both racial groups face discrimination on a regular basis however in different situational realms. Prior to hearing the Native American student alliance speak and before visiting the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit, I hadn’t thought to how ethnic and international models may experience many of these same discriminatory problems. Looking further, this problem is especially prevalent here in the United States, because fashion, modeling and the “ideal body” is even so contorted and far fetched.... Something to definitely think about....
ReplyDeleteIn addition to introducing ethnic models into the fashion world, Laurent also created some of the first “ready-to-wear reputable garments by referencing other non-European cultures in his clothing lines. I found this aspect of the exhibit particularly interesting because prior to Laurent, American fashion was rather narrow in terms of reputable garments. Nonetheless after having visited this exhibit I feel extremely inspired and would like to imagine myself being as successful of a designer as Laurent one day. His work is applicable to my art style in particular, since I am currently pursuing a studio art degree with the hopes of one day pursuing a career in design.
I would say that he is a smart guy. Females love cloths so much more, he knows how to pleasure the girls, and to reach a wider market. It is also smart of him to do so as an artist because this move would separate him apart from the others.
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