Yves Saint Laurent

No matter which fileld of life we are talking about we need to have a knowledge of the past, what has been done before and where we are coming from. We can not expect to grow if we don't take the time to scrutinize the mistakes and the triumphs of those that came before us.

Yves Saint Laurent is one of the strongest influences on the fashion world which will live on even though he left us in 2008. He was born in Algeria in 1936 and moved to Paris after secondary school to pursue a career in fashion. At 17 he was hired by Dior and when Dior died Saint Laurent became head of the fashion house at the tender age of 21.

In 1961 he opened his own fashion house and pushed the boundaries of the industry. He is proclaimed to be the one who saved haute couture and legitimised ready to wear fashion. He introduced masculine touches to women's fashion like the tuxedo. Saint Laurent was the first designer to use ethnic models in his catwalk shows and who used influences outside of the western world.

He forged a strong legacy. Even though he was frail and prone to depressions he delievered more in a lifetime than most. He was bullied in school and vowed to see his own name in neon light, and he succeeded.

//P.

YSL 2011 Men's Spring Collection

Two examples from Yves Saint Laurent's men's collection for spring/summer 2011. They don't do anything for me. Quite the opposite. Not good for their business but good for my wallet.

//P.

Tom Ford

The closest thing you can get to a God in the fashion world is Tom Ford. Everything he has touched has turned to gold and many are those who sacrifice their grandmother to have the same wrap sheet as Tom Ford.

He was born in 1961 in Austin, Texas (poor man). At the tender age of 17 he moved to New York to study art history. After a few eventful turns he ended up in the fashion business. Tom Ford felt that Europeans apreciated style more and jumped at the opportunity to hot up the Gucci brand. Before Tom Ford got his hands on Gucci the image was expensive and old lady. Tom Ford turned it around to the hottest thing around with people on waiting lists for the now so desirable Gucci goods.

After he did the same thing with Yves Saint Laurent that also belonged to the LVMH group and then in 2005 he continued the success story when he launched his own brand. He used very eye popping and raunchy advertising that created quite the stir which yet again proves the point that there is no such thing as bad publicity.

In 2009 Tom Ford produced and directed his first film, A Single Man, to critical acclaim. The saga of Tom Ford is indeed ongoing.

I read in an article that on the height of his success he had an existensial crisis and wondered what was there to do next. Evidently he got out of it but it is comforting for us mere mortals that even a "God" can fall down in a black hole.


Personally I could eat him up with a spoon.

//P.