The Saint Laurent tuxedo is one of the eternal pieces of French fashion. A piece seen around the world now – an icon that proves all its panache in each of the collections of the house founded by YSL!
Saint Laurent Tuxedo 2022: The Fashion And Style Of The House
If in 2022, the Saint Laurent suit known as the tuxedo, still inspires the artistic director Anthony Vaccarello, it’s because it is a garment that fashion never tires of. For the Saint Laurent Spring/Summer 2022 collection, it is the tuxedo that plays the role of a centerpiece.
Admittedly when the little prince of couture imagined it in the 60s, the revolution was outstanding!
“If I had to choose a model among all those that I presented, it would undoubtedly be the tuxedo. It appeared for the first time in 1966 with a transparent blouse and men’s pants. And every year since, the tuxedo is present in my collections. This is sort of the label of Yves Saint Laurent.” declared the founder of the iconic fashion house.
Yes, if there is one piece that a woman must have in her wardrobe, it is the suit signed by the house that changed fashion in Paris.
“If we had to represent the woman of the 70s one day in time, it is a woman in pants that would prevail because it has become one of the centerpieces of the wardrobe of the modern woman” said the master French couture.
The ensemble revolutionized the world of fashion and couture by adding a je-ne-sais-quoi of androgynous minimalism, opening the way to the “power suit” of the 80s. Pierre Bergé added: “I like the Smoking because it represents the moment when Yves gave power to women. »
How did Yves Saint Laurent come up with the idea of such a creation for the history of fashion?
Danielle Luquet de Saint Germain looks back on this key piece from the house’s collection in 1966. She says “His inspiration came from each model. He created according to what the girl inspired him. (…) He had created the tuxedo on me with a transparent blouse”, arousing “the astonishment of the press around the world. »
The Saint Laurent tuxedo was then the very first suit intended for women. With the second feminist wave having just begun, the lady suit remained a controversial alternative to the little black dress in fashion.
But the couturier makes fun of conventions and forces French fashion into modernity.
His tuxedo, Saint Laurent imagines it with a straight or double-breasted jacket, with shiny satin or silk lapels. The pants are made from the same fabric as the jacket, the shirt in muslin: it brings a feminine suppleness and subtlety to the whole. Instead of the bow tie, YSL attaches a graceful silk ribbon. The frill replaces the collar of men’s shirts.
1966. Trousers are prohibited or very frowned upon on women’s legs; in question: their “obscenity”. Two years before May 68, when women emerged in working life, Yves Saint Laurent emphasized his career in the service of beauty and elegance by imparting them the argument of power. Gone are the endless, unbearable long and hard to put on dresses: the tuxedo is the new evening wear.
The first to wear it was Catherine Deneuve, in 1967. The conservatives are offended, seeing there is a confusion of genres and ultimately, the perversion of the species… Judging without knowing how to observe the genius of Yves Saint Laurent because, this rereading is a model of the genre. In the absence of women in men’s clothes, the artist undresses men to accommodate the female body.
Over the years of his creation, the couturier has explored and used all the possibilities of the principle: ignoring any miscegenation, calling for all hybridizations, the tuxedo is transfigured in contact with skirts, shorts, knikers, dresses, or kimonos.
Remaining a constant at YSL, the costume continues to suggest the extreme sensuality of the feminine-masculine contrast; discovering its virile rigor with a slit along the thigh, showing off one shoulder or simply tying it over a lace bra… The tuxedo became legendary when it became the setting for ultra femininity: in 1989, it slips on the bare skin. Today, this creation embodies the pinnacle of elegance, exuding grace and confidence.
Captured by the myth of the photographer that is Helmut Newton, one evening, in the rue Aubriot in Paris – the tuxedo reaches the status of absolute fashion grail.
Through this garment, Yves Saint Laurent has allowed women to feel continuously fashionable because the YSL tuxedo is a style garment, not a fashion garment. And as the genius of couture himself said: “Fashions fade, style is eternal”.
A major piece is available here.