Design History: Yves Saint Laurent

This reflection on the career of YSL, repeats a conclusion I mentioned a week ago on how important it is for a designer to understand SHAPE.

"More particularly, in St. Laurent’s work, while this change was in part one of fabric and visual reference, it was most significantly one of geometry, of form, of shape, of profile. That first post-Dior collection essayed a sort of triangular dress sillhouette, followed by something linear, then by something convex, and on and on. One quality that ostensibly distinguishes “designing” from its sister “styling,” as modes of applying form to objects, is the seeming constancy of the former, and the seeming changeability of the latter. A good design solution is a good design solution, goes the argument, regardless of the calendar or clock. But as for style, what’s lively in April is deadly in September."

- Thomas de Monchaux

Thomas de Monchaux Remembers YSL