Hyde Park Corner is the venue for
the Yves Saint Laurent Beauté Maison, a pop-up house in celebration of “50
years of Edgy Beauty.” I can only describe my visit there as a pilgrimage to
honour a legendary icon in the world of fashion, beauty and fragrance. Needless
to say, it was an inspiring and emotional experience for me.
The maison is an Aladdin’s cave
of photos and artwork (some especially flown in from Paris). From the minute I stepped in, I was
enthralled by the unfolding story of Yves Saint Laurent, one of my favourite
classic designers, and of YSL Beauté. The story of Yves reads like an exotic fairytale
- if it wasn’t true, you would be forgiven for thinking that it came straight
out of Shehrezade’s 1001 Arabian nights.
Born in 1936 in Oran, Algeria,
Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent (I love the way it trills off the
tongue!), spent his childhood creating exquisite paper dolls. A child who has a
passion can only become a success if he/she has the support of family. Yves was
lucky - by the time he was a teenager, he was creating beautiful gowns for his
mother and sisters, who wore the young boy’s creations with pride and flair. At the tender age of 18, he
journeyed to Paris
and joined the prestigious Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. His designs
quickly attracted the interest of fashionistas and other designers. It was only
a matter of time before the young creative genius was “discovered” by Michel de
Brunhoff, then editor of French Vogue. De Brunhoff introduced Saint-Laurent to
the emperor of haute couture at the time - Christian Dior. The young man was
appointed at Dior’s atelier and made such an impression that Dior went to
Saint-Laurent’s mother and announced that he wanted her talented son to become
his successor! When Dior tragically passed on from cardiac failure later that
year, the 21 year old found himself heading the most celebrated fashion house
of the era.
A tragic turn of events just
three years later found the 24 year old prodigy drafted into the French Army to
serve in Algeria’s
War of Independence. His dismissal from the House of Dior, coupled with cruel
initiation by fellow soldiers landed him in military hospital. It was a
traumatic time, as he was drugged and subjected to electro-shock therapy which
impacted adversely on his health later in life. It is often said that emotional
pain and trauma is the root of creativity in artists and this proved to be so
true of Yves Saint-Laurent. Upon release from the army, he successfully sued
the House of Dior and with a cash injection from an Atlanta billionaire, he bounced back and
established, with his partner, the Yves St. Laurent YSL house of fashion. There
was no stopping his creativity and amazing fashion sense as he gave the world
of couture the most amazing item after item, all of which went on to become
enduring classics. St. Laurent
earned a reputation for innovative and avant-garde creations like the very
first tuxedo for women and the very first full prêt-a-porter range.
The unstoppable St. Laurent wanted to celebrate the beauty of
the women who wore his fabulous creations and soon Yves Saint Laurent Beauté
was born. There was nothing shy about the new range of makeup. The gold
packaging of the products glided elegantly onto store shelves, quietly but
firmly emphasizing the opulence of the YSL brand. YSL scents like Opium (once
hailed as the most expensive perfume in the world), Paris and Kouros are
covetable items, recognized as ‘must-haves’ in the perfume closets of fragrance
cognoscenti. Another Yves Saint Laurent Beauté icon is the Touché Eclat
highlighter pen. One is sold every second! The Beauté Maison guides you through
Yves Saint Laurent Beauté over the years through wonderful photographs and
artwork and invites you to experience the makeup and fragrances, both early and
new.
Faces of Yves Saint Laurent
Beauté have included Yves himself, for the first male fragrance; the stunningly
voluptuous Sophie Dahl, in a very risqué but artistically intriguing Opium
campaign that generated much discussion; Jessica Chastain and currently Olivier
Martinez, Cara Delevingne and Edie Campbell.
In 1980, Saint-Laurent and his his
long-time partner and co-founder of Yves Saint Laurent YSL, Pierre Bergé,
bought the Majorelle Garden in Marrakech, Morocco. The purchase was a tribute,
not only to his appreciation of all things beautiful, but also to his North
African roots. He magnanimously left the beautiful garden open to the public,
as they had been since 1947.
When Yves Saint-Laurent passed
away in 2008, the world mourned the legend who put the ‘haute’ into haute
couture. He was cremated and his ashes appropriately scattered in the
breathtakingly tranquil and elegant Majorelle
Garden that he so loved.
This year Yves Saint Laurent
Beauté honoured the memory of the genius designer by creating Black Opium -
black being his favourite colour. You can read my review of the fragrance
here.
Yves Saint Laurent Beauté and fragrances are available at selected retailers
nationwide.
Yves Saint Laurent Beauté Maison
is situated on the cinema level at Hyde Park Corner and will stay until
November 24th 2014. If you are a lover of beauty, fashion, art,
real-life fairytales… actually if you just love and appreciate beautiful
things, please make the pilgrimage.
Until next time
Love and sparkles
