1968: a bold year indeed. While the streets rose up and broke down the constraints of a society that didn’t fit them, Yves Saint Laurent beat the minimalist trend of the 60s and 70s to the punch and advocated for a return to nature, initiating one of the major trends of the 70s. Whereas female curves normally disappeared in favor of a simpler dress, the See-Through dress, made entirely of chiffon, fell on the body, accentuating the waist with a halo of ostrich feathers and perfects what previously had to be hidden: the breasts. The image circled the globe. A scandal was in the making; the American press, overly cautious in that era, couldn’t even publish the photos. Conceived on the body of his muse Danielle Luquet de Saint-Germain, this transparent dress was the witness of a moving era where women were becoming more and more the actresses of their lives, masters of their bodies and consequently their sexuality.
Forty years later, Laetitia Casta rendered homage to Yves Saint-Laurent by wearing his mythic dress during the 2010 Césars awards. Handing out the prize for best supporting actor, the designer’s ex-muse evoked quite a reaction from the audience as well as the media by showing off her shrouded curves in dark chiffon. Even actor Harrison Ford, who took home the César d’Honneur award, declared that there are some “dresses you can’t wear on TV back home.”
Pierre Bergé once said about the “smoking”: “I like Le Smoking because it represents the moment when Yves empowered women.” Through the See-Through dress, the designer proved that women can have power without repudiating their femininity.
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