Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent, known as Yves Saint Laurent (August 1936 – 1 June 2008), was a French fashion designer, one of the greatest names in French fashion in the 20th century. In 1985, Caroline Rennolds Milbank wrote, “The most consistently celebrated and influential designer of the past twenty-five years, Yves Saint Laurent can be credited with both spurring the couture’s rise from its sixties ashes and with finally rendering ready-to-wear reputable”. He is also credited with having introduced the tuxedo suit for women, being the first designer to use ethnic models in his runway shows, and referencing other cultures in his work.

In 1953, Saint Laurent submitted three sketches to a contest for young fashion designers, organized by the International Wool Secretariat. He won third place and was invited to attend the awards ceremony in Paris. Later that same year, Saint Laurent entered the International Wool Secretariat competition again and won, beating out his friend Fernando Sanchez and a young German student named Karl Lagerfeld. Shortly after his win, he brought a number of sketches to de Brunhoff who recognized in them close similarities to sketches he had been shown that morning by Christian Dior. Knowing that Dior had created the sketches that morning and that the young man could not have seen them, de Brunhoff sent him to Dior, who hired him on the spot.

Although Dior recognized his talent immediately, Saint Laurent spent his first year at the House of Dior on mundane tasks, such as decorating the studio and designing accessories. Eventually, however, he was allowed to submit sketches for the couture collection; with every passing season, more of his sketches were accepted by Dior. In August 1957, Dior met with Saint Laurent’s mother to tell her that he had chosen Saint Laurent to succeed him as designer.

This video is a fashion series focusing on the work of the late Yves Saint Laurent, regarded by many as the greatest designer of the 20th century. No couture season could end without a YSL collection, yet this reclusive, sensitive man was dogged by ill health and every year remained coy about whether the collection would be ready in time.