In celebration of the fashion house’s 70th anniversary, Dior (in partnership with Assouline) has published a series of books devoted to the seven designers who have transformed and spearheaded one of the greatest Parisian couture houses of all time. Following on from Dior by Christian Dior, which was released in 2016, the second volume of this seven part series, entitled Dior by Yves Saint Laurent, pays homage to the founder’s successor’s illustrious success.
Yves Saint Laurent is renowned in the luxury brand’s history for remaining true to Dior’s elegant and sophisticated aesthetic, while simultaneously renewing and rejuvenating the label’s already sterling success with his own interpretation and design formula. “I wish to pay tribute to those who have influenced me,” he once said, to those “who have guided my actions and who have been my role models. And first and foremost to Christian Dior, who was my master and the first to reveal to me the secrets and mysteries of haute couture.”
This heartfelt quote opens the decadent coffee table that is Dior by Yves Saint Laurent, as does a series of stunning haute couture dresses that were revealed between the years 1958 and 1960. A Bonne Conduite dress in granite gray wool from the haute couture spring/summer 1958 collection’s Trapeze line is both eye-catching and modest; its knee-length hem and generous silhouette boasting statement pockets and an oversized Peter Pan-styled collar with bow.
The release’s author Laurence Benaïm is a specialist in Yves Saint Laurent, having enthusiastically studied his extraordinary career, she’s since gained quite a reputation as the author of his biography. Benaïm’s narrative examines, in detail, the six splendidly opulent collections that the couturier designed during his time with the house of Dior, and sits alongside various photographs taken by fashion shutterbug Laziz Hamani, who perfectly captures each ensemble’s meticulous beauty and serenity.
