YSL

The late and great fashion designer, Yves Saint Laurent is credited as one of the greatest names in French fashion. Born in 1936, Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent’s talent was first spotted when he attended an awards ceremony in Paris with his mother and was introduced to the then editor of French Vogue, Michel de Brunhoff. Impressed Yves Saint Laurent’s sketches, the editor encouraged the young designer who then enrolled and studied at the Chambre Syndicalede la Haute Couture. Emerging as the star pupil, Yves Saint Laurent then went onto assist Dior after re visiting Michel de Brunhoff who put the flourishing designer in touch with Dior due to their sketches being so similar. Although Dior recognized his talent immediately, Saint Laurent spent his first year at the fashion house of Dior completing relatively mundane tasks that included decorating the studio and designing accessories. Eventually, he was allowed to submit sketches for the couture collection and with every passing season, more of his sketches were accepted byDior.

In August 1957, Dior met with Saint Laurent's mother to tell her that he had chosen Saint Laurent to succeed him as designer. His mother later said that she had been confused by the remark, due to Dior being only 52 years old at the time. Both she and her son were surprised when in October of that year Dior died at a health spa in northern Italy of a massive heart attack. So at 21, Yves Saint Laurent was head of fashion house, Dior. Famous for creating some of fashion’s most iconic pieces, Yves Saint Laurent was catapulted to fame with his first collection for Dior that included the 'trapeze dress', but the media’s celebrations for the designer were short lived and after an unsuccessful season and turbulent time at Dior involving the French army and a law suit against Dior for breach of contract, Yves Saint Laurent set out on his own. Creating his own fashion house, the French designer created ground breaking designs that included iconic pieces such as the beatnik look, safari jackets for men and women, tight pants and tall, thigh-high boots, including the creation of arguably the most famous classic tuxedo suit for women in 1966, the ‘Le Smoking’.

Taken over by the Gucci group in 1999, Tom Ford was assigned to design the ready-to-wear collection whilst Saint-Laurent would design the haute couture collection. Oozing classical and refined French design, Yves Saint Laurent sunglasses use premium and exclusive materials to create a plethora of directional shapes for an altogether eclectic collection that will hold its style and become a future classic.