A Definitive New Book On Yves Saint Laurent Charts 100 Of His Most Iconic Creations

Paris, the city of love, welcomed Yves Saint Laurent with open arms when he first arrived in the French capital at the age of 17. La Ville Lumière, which he proudly called "Mon Paris", gave him the freedom to transform himself into the "Little Prince of Haute Couture", before the fashion industry put a king's crown on his head. 

After getting his big break working for Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent struck out on his own, and revolutionised high fashion for a new era of strong, independent, and youthful women. Way ahead of his time, the couturier had the avant-garde intuition of creating feminine versions of traditional menswear styles, such as the pinstriped pantsuit, the Saharienne safari jacket, and of course, Le Smoking tuxedo. Bold ideas that were initially considered scandalous, but which quickly became landmarks in the history of fashion. 

Now, a new book has been released on the life, legacy, and influence of this trailblazing designer, retracing his 40 year oeuvre through 100 of his most iconic creations, from his debut collection of 1962 up to his final couture presentation in 2002. An ambitious work, summed up in its title, Yves Saint Laurent: The Impossible Collection. 

Curated by esteemed fashion journalist Laurence Benaïm, and published by Assouline as part of its Ultimate Collection, the 9.5kg tome (bound in a handmade silk clamshell case) highlights all the classics — the Mondrian shift dress, the costumes for Belle du Jour, where he dressed his lifelong muse and actress Catherine Deneuve, the Ballet Russes collection, the tributes to Picasso and Matisse, the draped coup de crayon gowns, his lavish use of velvet, lace, feathers, and leopard print, and much more. 

Not your usual table book, the volume is punctuated with reflections on the couturier by Benaïm, and fragments from interviews, press conferences, and presentations, interspersed between one image and another.

"Saint Laurent was the first designer to express his affection for women not as a father but like a lover to whom they could give themselves completely," Benaïm writes. "It seems impossible to imagine a world without Saint Laurent, without his signature vocabulary, his liberated classic styles with their effortless fluidity of movement."

Yves Saint Laurent: The Impossible Collection
Handcrafted volume in a luxury silk clamshell case
Text by Laurence Benaïm
Assouline Publishing
assouline.com