Happy birthday YSL: from dressing paper dolls to Christian Dior
365 days of fashion: the e-ncyclopedia of fashion
Tuesday, August 1, 2023
Yves Saint Laurent, the iconic couturier was born on this day in 1936. There is a lot that can be said about him (we already talked about his iconic Le Smoking) and you might be familiar with his work, but did you know how he started in fashion?
Fun fact 1: YSL won a fashion design prize at 17 years old
Saint Laurent grew up in Oran and attended a Catholic School. He was constantly bullied there, so he sought refuge in design, using scraps of his mother’s clothes to dress his paper dolls. He created wardrobes for 11 of them, producing 500 different garments and accessories. Encouraged by his family, Yves submitted his work to the International Wool Secretariat fashion competition and won the third prize in 1953.
Through his father’s contacts, he was introduced to Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Michel de Brunhoff.