Yves Saint Laurent and his companion Pierre Bergé first traveled to Marrakesh in 1966 and have been met by a whole week of rain. However the day the solar got here out, the couple fell head over heels in love with the town, instantly purchased a home there and returned commonly through the years with their mates. Morocco grew to become their residence away from residence and a inventive sanctuary for Saint Laurent, the nation the place he would sketch designs for his upcoming collections earlier than bringing them again to his studio in Paris. Stephan Janson, French clothier and good friend of Saint Laurent and Bergé, speaks about how Marrakesh opened the trailblazing 20th-century couturier’s eyes to paint and the “Love” exhibition operating till October 30, 2022, which he co-curated at Palácio Duques de Cadaval in Évora, Portugal, alongside Mouna Mekouar and Alexandra de Cadaval.
The Love exhibition within the Church of Saint John the Evangelist at Palácio Duques de Cadaval in … [+]
Picture courtesy of Palácio Duques de Cadaval
You personally knew Yves Saint Laurent. What was the aim of his first go to to Morocco in 1966?
Escape. He wished to get out of Paris. He was born in Algeria, which has the identical kind of local weather as Morocco. Clara Saint, who was a good friend of his and labored with him, prompt he go to Marrakesh and he stated, “OK, let’s go to Marrakesh.” It rained the entire time he and Pierre Bergé have been there, and so they beloved it. They loved it enormously and fell in love with the place. By the point they went again to Paris, that they had purchased a tiny, lovely home, Dar el-Hanch, the Home of the Snake.
Did this primary go to already change Yves Saint Laurent’s imaginative and prescient of colour?
Not that very first go to. Throughout that go to, he was seduced by the Moroccans’ way of life, their rhythms and gestures. Then on the second go to, he was engaged on his assortment and he instructed me, “The facility and high quality of the sunshine in Morocco made me see colours otherwise.” So it was not solely what he noticed within the streets that seduced him, but in addition the standard of the sunshine.
Yves Saint Laurent at Dar el-Hanch
Picture Pierre Bergé. Courtesy of Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, Paris
Inform me about his use of colour as a uncooked materials.
Beginning to take a look at easy, on a regular basis life, he instructed me as soon as that he remembered going to the souk in Marrakesh. He was taking a look at these two women: one was sporting pale pink and the opposite one sporting lilac, and it was lovely collectively. Then they met a good friend who had a purple caftan, and he thought that was an attention-grabbing mixture. Then they break up and the girl within the purple caftan walked alone and he or she met one other girl with a rust caftan. Rapidly, it grew to become like one other colour. The worth of the colours modified in accordance with what they have been subsequent to. That’s when he began taking a look at his work and utilizing colour as a uncooked materials.
It was additionally concerning the reflections because of the daylight…
Sure, the play of shadows and the solar. He was very delicate to this. That’s when he found colours that earlier than weren’t very attention-grabbing to him: all the colours of the earth, the sand and really pure tones that have been enriched by daylight. He stated, “Earlier than, I used to work with beige, and once I was in Morocco, I found that beige may very well be like 100 colours in accordance with the shadow and the solar.” When he realized that he was good at colour, he determined to change into one of the best at it. That’s very a lot the best way he was: he at all times wished to be one of the best. When individuals began seeing a colour mixture a couple of times, after that, for every assortment, he thought he needed to shock them extra, so he was actually enjoying like an artist.
Look no. 6: broché/lamé jacket, wool and silk lamé shirt, broché/lamé pants, silk chiffon scarf and … [+]
Picture Francisco Nogueira. Courtesy of Saint Laurent Rive Gauche
Why did the style trade contemplate Yves Saint Laurent to be an ideal colorist?
As a result of he created new colour mixtures that grew to become classics, like pink and fuchsia and orange. Earlier than, nobody would put these colours collectively and, abruptly, it grew to become a basic the second he used it.
How have been the influences of Morocco mirrored in Yves Saint Laurent’s collections?
What was very attention-grabbing was that he took so much from males’s dressing, just like the tuxedo, pantsuit and pea coat, and likewise all of the issues he took from Morocco have been from males, which very a lot shocked Moroccan women. He took from males’s garments to make womenswear as a result of Moroccan ladies’s garments hid the physique with caftans, spherical necks, huge sleeves, robes going to the ground and never exhibiting the physique versus males’s garments with sashes on the waist, areas the place the garment was tight and the attractive motion of their capes. For Westerners, nobody knew it was from males in Morocco, but it surely’s largely parts from males’s wardrobes that he made female. When he designed his males’s assortment, it was implausible as a result of it was precisely the identical as the ladies’s; he simply modified the facet of the buttons. You had the identical jackets and shirts, and it was gender fluidity earlier than it was even thought of. He was a pioneer in so many fields.
Exhibition view of the 14 seems curated by Stephan Janson for the Love exhibition on the Church of … [+]
Picture Francisco Nogueira. Courtesy of Saint Laurent Rive Gauche
How did you select the 14 Yves Saint Laurent ready-to-wear seems displayed within the “Love” exhibition within the Church of Saint John the Evangelist at Palácio Duques de Cadaval?
Fortunately, Madison Cox, President of the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, gave me permission to combine seasons and years as a result of I feel the large power of Yves Saint Laurent was to construct a wardrobe, not simply make an announcement for one season, which he did each season. Each time, what he did remained as an vital piece in a lady’s wardrobe. Once I had completed my choice for the exhibition, I confirmed it to 3 ladies I do know: one who has been an enormous Yves Saint Laurent fan all her life and two ladies who labored with Yves Saint Laurent for 20 years. I requested them what they considered the combo of seasons. They stated, “It’s the best way we put on it.” So for me it was proof that this was actuality and never simply exhibiting museum items.
What’s the vary of years of the clothes which are exhibited?
The earliest is 1972 and the newest is 1992. The primary look is essential as a result of there’s a beige wool cape from 1981, a silk tunic from 1974, a wool skirt from 1978, a beaded necklace from an unknown assortment and a silk scarf from the ’80s. You set them collectively and it’s excellent. For look quantity 13, that’s a 1972 inexperienced wool cape, a wool costume from 1984 and a wool cap from 1976. I’m very grateful to Madison Cox as a result of it has by no means been carried out earlier than by the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent. It has at all times offered garments like within the vogue exhibits. Jacques Grange, who embellished a number of homes for Mr. Saint Laurent, stated to me, “I bear in mind this outfit, however I don’t bear in mind it.” That’s as a result of it was by no means an outfit. I defined to him that the items have been from completely different collections, and he stated it appeared prefer it had at all times been like that. That was the concept.
