Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style heads to Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Mar 31, 2017

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is set to open Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style on May 6, 2017 for a spring/summer showcase. The exhibit will make its second and final stop in its US tour at VMFA after beginning at the Seattle Art Museum in October.

 
Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style showcases 100 haute couture and ready-to-wear ensembles by Saint Laurent, some of which have never been shown publicly before. The exhibit also displays accessories, photographs, sketches, films and video from the vast archive of Fondation Pierre Bergé—Yves Saint Laurent and other private collections.
 
The exhibit that shares its name with a book by Florence Müller takes the visitor through Saint Laurent’s career, beginning with the “Paper Doll Couture House” that he created as a teenager (and is being shown in the first time in the US), followed by a short evening dress from his “Trapeze” collection for Dior at age 21 (his debut as a fashion designer), designs from the 1960s that liberated women and revolutionized the fashion industry, and finally a procession of eveningwear that date from the early 1970s to 2002 when he retired with his final runway collection.

The Perfection of Style also highlights how the designs of the French master were inspired by the work of other artists such as Piet Mondrian and Tom Wesselmann.
 
The Seattle Art Museum and Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent organized the retrospective exhibit dedicated to the French designer. VMFA is the only East Coast venue for the exhibit. 
 
Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style will be on view through August 27, 2017.