The great museums of Paris pay tribute to Yves Saint Laurent

PlacesOn the occasion of the anniversary of the French genius's first parade, 60 years ago, Paris celebrates his taste and love for the arts and literature.

By Laurence Mouillefarine

Finding a link between the works of the Center Pompidou and the models of Yves Saint Laurent seems obvious, given the inspiration of the latter in the masters of modern art. Starting with Piet Mondrian, who translated his abstract writing into cocktail dresses in the 1965 autumn-winter collection, when the Dutchman was not yet well known in France. In the museum's rooms, dresses and paintings interact to illustrate the tributes he paid, through his clothes, to Fernand Leger, Henri Matisse, Serge Poliakoff, and the pop painter Tom Wesselmann.

Yves Saint Laurent has also shown a sensitivity to older art, such as Bonnard's or Van Gogh's. To discover it, you have to go to the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. There a cheerful dialogue is established between the blouses, the satin organza skirts in floral tones, and the works of the painters. "My dresses are like masses of colors in motion," the designer once said.

The Picasso National Museum in Paris is also a natural part of this tribute to the great designer. Laurent fell in love with the Spanish painter, whom he called "pure genius". And he not only adapted a cubist vocabulary in some of his models, but also used motifs taken from Picasso's portraits to decorate jackets and evening dresses.

The route also leads to the Louvre, an unexpected stop. Saint Laurent fashion occupies the Galerie Apollon, the most prestigious room in the entire institution. It is here that the designer's most luxurious dresses are on display: dresses embroidered with sequins, stones and rock crystal.

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At the same time, the wonderful savoir-faire of the embroidery craftsmen is celebrated. To do this, you have to cross the Seine and continue your visit to the Musée d'Orsay. Why this site? For the passion that the designer felt towards Marcel Proust. The couturier kept several quotations from the author of La Recherche on his desk. In the cabinet of graphic arts the lively sketches that he drew for the costumes of the Proust Ball, offered in 1971 by the Baron and Baroness Guy de Rothschild in the castle of Ferrières, are exhibited. Let the dance begin!

The visit ends at the Yves Saint Laurent museum in Paris, although it could also start there. An exhibition that combines drawings, patterns, canvases, hat shapes and samples immerses the visitor in the creative process of Yves Saint Laurent. From the "handyman" who work in each workshop, the different collaborators who participate in the making of the models are honored. It is a portrait of the fashion house.

Article adapted by Ángela González from AD France.

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