Childhood
- Born in Oran, Algeria
- Son of an insurance company president father and fashionable mother
- Began study at Chambre Syndicale de la Couture; quit shortly after
- Began working for Christian Dior by 17
- By 21, after Dior's 1957 death, he was put in charge of the house
- Was made to serve the French Army but, the ever fragile Yves was let go after 20 days for mental reasons
- Suffered a breakdown shortly after; treatments included electroshock therapy
- In 1962, right after his breakdown, he was released from Dior; began his own company with his lover Pierre Berge
- Yves and Pierre split in 1976 but remain business partners, loyal friends until the end
- 1983 was the first living designer to be honored by the Met with a solo exhibit
- 2002 retirement; became extremely reclusive
- Created a foundation that comprised of 15,000 objects and 5,000 pieces from the YSL company
- In spring 2008 Yves and Pierre were joined in marriage at a same-sex civil union ceremony
- Passed on June 1, 2008 from brain cancer at his Paris homes; ashes were scattered at his favorite location in Marrakech, Morocco
- Loulous de la Falaise
- Betty Catroux
- Talitha Pol-Getty
- Catherin Denevuve
- Nicole Dorier
- Katouche Niane
- Laetitia Casta
- Dressing is a way of life.
- Fashions fade, style is eternal.
- I have often said that I wish I had invented blue jeans: the most spectacular, the most practical, the most relaxed and nonchalant. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity - all I hope for in my clothes.
- It pains me physically to see a woman victimized, rendered pathetic, by fashion.
- Isn't elegance forgetting what one is wearing?
- Ready to wear
- Trapeze dress
- Beatnik look
- Safari jackets
- Boots over pants
- Thigh high boots
- Le Smoking suit
- First to use black runway models
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