Never-before-seen Yves Saint Laurent exhibit at SM | Lifestyle.INQ

OCTOBER 27, 2022

A visibly anxious Yves Saint Laurent peeks out from backstage during his first collection show in 1962, heralded by the industry as the birth of fashion’s new era.
A visibly anxious Yves Saint Laurent peeks out from backstage during his first collection show in 1962, heralded by the industry as the birth of fashion’s new era.
A visibly anxious Yves Saint Laurent peeks out from backstage during his first collection show in 1962, heralded by the
industry as the birth of fashion’s new era.

 

SM Supermalls, Alliance Française de Manille and the Embassy of France in the Philippines present “Yves Saint Laurent: A Birth of a Legend,” a photography exhibit of renowned French photographer Pierre Boulat.

 

The exhibit is on view until Nov. 20 at SM Aura Premier Atrium and Nov. 23-30 at the Mega Fashion Hall of SM Megamall.

 

It is a one-of-a-kind touring exhibit featuring the legendary French fashion designer, who helped change the way modern women dress (Smoking Tuxedo, Mondrian shift dress, fantasy ball gowns, to name a few) and was the founder of the French luxury brand Yves Saint Laurent (YSL).

 

It features 49 photographs by Boulat, capturing the creative work, anxiety and happiness of Saint Laurent, as he prepared his first collection in 1962.

 

In 1961, Saint Laurent was preparing to launch his fashion house with his partner, Pierre Bergé. Coming on the heels of Dior, Saint Laurent was called “the new fashion genius” by Life magazine fashion editor Sally Kirkland.

 

Kirkland let journalist Nadine Puissesseau and Boulat  document Saint Laurent’s preparations for his first collection.

 

YSL is a luxury French fashion brand founded in 1961. It is well-known for iconic and modern masterpieces like tuxedos and suits for women. Saint Laurent also became the first living fashion designer to be honored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York with a solo exhibition in 1983.

 

Boulat, a renowned French photographer and journalist, became one of the few photographers of Saint Laurent since his debut at Dior. He opened a fashion studio in 1948 and worked for different French and American magazines—Look, Life and Time.

 

He also helped produce the catalog for the exhibition of Yves Saint Laurent at the Metropolitan Museum of New York.

 

This exhibit is one of the many fashion events at SM Supermalls.

 

Saint Laurent breaks down, overwhelmed by the audience’s rousing acceptance of his first collection.
Saint Laurent breaks down, overwhelmed by the audience’s rousing acceptance of his first collection.

 

Saint Laurent with his partner, industrialist Pierre Bergé, in 1960
Saint Laurent with his partner, industrialist Pierre Bergé, in 1960

 

Saint Laurent prepares his first collection, Jan. 29, 1962, at Hôtel Forain, rue Spontini 30 bis in Paris.
Saint Laurent prepares his first collection, Jan. 29, 1962, at Hôtel Forain, rue Spontini 30 bis in Paris.

 

Yves Saint Laurent, hailed by Lifemagazine’s fashion editor Sally Kirkland as “the new fashion genius”
Yves Saint Laurent, hailed by Lifemagazine’s fashion editor Sally Kirkland as “the new fashion genius”
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