Customer Reviews

Yves Saint Laurent

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These days, celebrities lending their name to a brand is commonplace, a practice that's become - in our humble opinion - vulgar. Whether based on greed, narcissism, or simply bad management, it seems like every other Hollywood leading lady (and more and more, leading man) has a line of clothing, home goods, energy drinks, [insert name of nearly any other item you can think of here].

For every dozen Hollywood starlets or handful of douchebags (Ed Hardy/Christian Audigier comes to mind) hawking cheap wares at Macys, Kmart and QVC, however, there are one or two designers who've actually given up their blood, sweat, and tears - not to mention learning the art and possessing genuine creative talent - to legitimately deserve the right to put their name to a label. Dior, Fendi, Gucci, Chanel, Lanvin, Louis Vuitton... timeless, classic, beautiful brands - all of which carry a name from an actual person. Standing strong among them, with a rich history of creative brilliance, is Yves Saint Laurent.

The first tome to celebrate the sheer design genius of the man, Yves Saint Laurent represents a comprehensive retrospective of the designer, the icon, the legendary god of fashion who helped create the industry that we know today as fashion. A celebrity among celebrities, from his first couture collection to his last, Saint Laurent's clothes were celebrated and his brilliance admired- as well they should be.

As vibrant, diverse and fascinating as the man himself, Yves Saint Laurent - the book - plays excellent tribute to the artist. An accompaniment to a retrospective exhibition at the Petit Palais in Paris (featuring more than 300 garments; on view through August 29, 2010), it's a first-rate volume that's as full of history as it is photographs. Aside from his fashion, the volume highlights Saint Laurent's philosophy of style, with special attention paid to his muses- a select handful of women who he not only designed for, but adored.

Although he certainly created a few things that were a bit outside the norm (a perfect example being his knitted wedding dress from the mid-60s, which made the unfortunate woman wearing it look like an enormous tampon), Saint Laurent was known for his sophisticated style, albeit always with at least a touch of glamour. He understood women - and celebrated them; something instantly apparent in his designs. This volume brings that - as well as all the designer's nuances - to the general public, along with images of his hand-selected fabric samples, drawings, sketches, photographs, models... it would be exhausting if it weren't so exciting and enthralling.

At just under 400 pages with more than 200 full color illustrations, this is a coffee table book that should take its place at the top of the stack and remain there. Beautiful and fascinating from cover to cover, Yves Saint Laurent is the next best thing to a conversation with the designer himself.

Great documentation of what Yves stood for in fashion. Would recommend it to everyone who respects a creative genius. Gorgeous binding and luxurious weight in your hand. A well-designed and edited book about the elusive designer.

This book is exactly what I was looking for about Yves Saint Laurent. The photos are brilliant and colorful with detailed information of each one. YSL was a legendary designer and the author covered his talented journey in the fashion world wonderfully! I would recommend this book for anyone interested in fashion or modeling, it reflects how timeless his designs were. There are also great photos of some famous models too. It takes you back to a special time when even in the fashion world things were more simple and people really dressed for the occasion. A treasure to keep nearby for reference or to escape.

If you are looking for a book on YSL that spans his whole career, purchase this one. It's delightful and you will spend hours (like I did) looking through all of the gorgeous pictures!

"Yves Saint Laurent" is the exhibition at the Petit Palais - Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris. Since March 11. Ends on August 29, 2010.

This catalogue-book contains the exhibition images of this amazing fashion designer,his life and work, born in 1936. He worked at Dior fashion house, launched "the trapeze line ("A" line) in 1958" ... "And in the 1960s, opened his own couture house, with innovative ideas also in their creations, especially the tube (straight line dress) with drawings by the painter Mondrian." (Braga, 2008, p. 87)

Endowed with vast cultural repertoire honored several artists including Vincent van Gogh, Serge Poliakoff, Pablo Picasso, Tom Wesselmann, Jean Cocteau, Georges Braque (a dress in an editorial in 1998 with then-model Carla Bruni, the current first lady). In the late 1960s, for womenwear launched a set of trousers and jacket. Since then, fashion has become a reflection of behavior and ideological identity. Revival, glam, tribes in the 1970s. Multiplicity in the 1980s, multimixed identity in the 1990s. He went through all this, imposing style and aesthetics fully unique, leaving his unmistakable mark.

Far beyond the more than 300 looks-outfits exposed, documentation of his production, his muses ,idols and admirers, Yves Saint Laurent left us a great, unique and timeless legacy: Style with attitude!

BRAGA, João. História da Moda, uma narrativa. São Paulo: Editora Anhembi-Morumbi, 2008.

I was lucky enough to go to Paris and see this exhibit in person and this book gives the reader the chance to experience the YSL exhibit in the comfort of their own home. The book is just as informative and comprehensive as the exhibit and complements the exhibit very well. The reader get a better insight to the life of Saint Laurent and who he was. As well as learning about his choices in fashion with amazing illustration. This book is great for any lover of art and/or fashion. Truly amazing felt like I was in Paris seeing the exhibit in person while reading this book.

This "fashion bible," is excellent. It goes back in time to detail how YSL began a great fashion designer and the people he meet along the way. A must read!

This book is a beautifully illustrated comprehensive overview detailing the genius that is Yves Saint Laurent. The book is full of stunning full color photos depicting Laurent's beautiful collections across various decades. The text is also highly informative and accessible and does a great job in putting Laurent's collections within their social and historical contexts along with explaining the sources of Laurent's inspiration. The amount of text is reasonable and doesn't take from the beauty of the illustrations. The book itself is very well made and the paper is of the highest quality. All fans of Laurent and fashion in general will be pleased with this masterpiece.

I bought this book on impulse and I am glad I did. It is very well put together and well written. Provides a history of the work and the man.

I'll keep this short and sweet, if you have any interest in fashion then you simply must have this book! a truly exhaustive and well researched history of YSL that is lavishly illustrated with memorable images. recommended!