I promised that there would be a bit of a pic fest for the YSL exhibition at De Young museum and yes, there's a lot of heavy flash going on which REALLY don't do the details of the ensembles justice. I felt a little bit like a swotty know-it-all going into this exhibition just because Yves Saint Laurent is one of the few designers that I have read and watched A LOT about. However I can't know everything and there is a mystery to Yves Saint Laurent and infinite secrets about his creativity purely because they were SO personal to him and also took a lot of grief and toll on him that constantly intrigues me hence my continuous search for all things YSL-related. You still end up feeling like you know nothing when you look at the BREADTH of the clothes and that is exactly what is demonstrated at the exhibition but you want to know what was going on in that heart breakingly handsome face of his. Scarily wide-ranging variety, depth and development. Yet at the same time, continuity prevails and certain features mark pieces out as distinctly YSL.
For a start, the exhibition is organised by design theme/motif as opposed to chronological order. So as pieces from the 60s', 70s', 80s' and 90s' are all jumbled up in random order, you have to look at the placards by each outfit to ascertain which year the piece was created. It struck me that Yves Saint Laurent found several themes and motifs and continued to play on them through the years so that he ended up exploring a TON of things but also established a signature for himself at the same time and I think the structure of the exhibition really played that up. I'm a dumb fool for making the comparison but I can't help but think of my own style schizophrenic tendancies and how hopefully in some weird and twisted way, that for me is my shabby signature.
The Body Revealed: beautiful LARGE lace back (lace panels should be this big!) and a contrast of light sheer and hefty feathers...
Fundamentals for the Evening...
More Fundamentals for the Evening with gold knitted sleeves and a velvet coat made to order for Marisa Berenson and an evening gown so adorned that it could almost be called garish...except it's not.
The YSL Staple...Le Smoking... duh // Redefining the Silhouette with taffeta puffballs, oversized capes and...
...the most remarkable wedding dress ever... a knitted cocoon...
Monochrome Geometry...
The YSL Revolution that made the real differences...
A tribute to William Shakespeare...
The sort of oddball yet frighteningly beautiful colour combinations that I continue to be inspired by...
The tributes to Vincent van Goh, Henri Mattise, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braques...
...and of course Mondrian...
His preferred escape location of Morocco gets a nod too...
A wedding ensemble that could not be any more literal...
YSL ventured to far away lands through his mind and picture books and not by actual travelling, creating an homage to Japan, Spain, China, Africa and Russia...
Lots of flora/fauna tributes inside this glass cabinet...
As I said, flash-ridden pics just do not suffice so if you are in San Fran, get thee to De Young or if you were in Montreal, then lucky you as you already saw it... who knows where the exhibition will end up travelling to but I do know San Fran is the only USA destination and it is there until the 5th April 2009.
