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Yves Saint Laurent was one of the most innovative and brilliant of the younger designers and continues to be a directional force in fashion design. He inherited Christian Dior's fashion house in 1957 and designed their until 1962  when he opened his own fashion house.

He has always been inspired by art and in 1965 he designed dresses like Mondrian paintings. A year later he created pop-art dresses decorated with comic strips. 
He opened his own Boutique chain Rive Gauche in 1966 which soon expanded to 160 branches world wide. He launched the Left Bank Look, inspired by the students who inhabited Paris.

He introduced masculine tailoring for women with to-die-for tuxedos and pant-suits. This started in 1966 when he launched his 'smoking' jacked for women. He followed this with his knickerbocker suit, then culottes and in 1969 by his trouser suit. He once said that "clothes were a form of protest." 

Last updated: June 01, 2003

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Detail of Saint Laurent's Mondrian inspired dress.

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