GRANDMASTER YVES
Last night, everyone pulled something smoking-ish from the closet with an invite for the YSL premiere. It was a black, stylish crowd sipping champagne and nibbling on popcorn in the Vondelkerk in Amsterdam. Because with the dress code creative black tie , everyone could manage quite well. Fiona Hering chose a sequined dress by Mada van Gaans, her companion, illustrator Piet Paris, wore a skirt by Francisco Van Benthum, and Hilmar Mulder looked stunning in a fitted olive green dress with a Gucci bamboo bag. Sarah Mendes, responsible for the PR of Yves Saint Laurent beauté, looked absolutely smashing in a blue tuxedo that made Yves intensely happy.
After a glass, a kiss on the left, and a ‘you look great’ on the right, the film began. I think everyone in the audience had seen l’Amour Fou, the documentary about the sale of the art collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, so the story was familiar. Perhaps that’s why it was extra nice to see this tumultuous and captivating life in a dramatic narrative form. Especially because everything was executed so beautifully. The casting was perfect, and as a result, Karl Lagerfeld (since Yves and Karl were in the same scene), Loulou de la Falaise, Carmel Snow (editor of American Harper’s Bazaar), and of course Yves himself came to life.
“I believe there is one scene in which Yves is not intensely sucking on a cigarette, and further, the necessary lines are drawn and glasses emptied.”
Then the dresses. For this film, director Jalil Lespert had access to 1500 creations by Yves. How wonderful to see the Mondrian dress, the trapeze dress, the tuxedo on moving (and beautiful) women. As if you could also taste that fine era for a moment. Although you might not want to take that tasting too literally because it was, to put it mildly, a rather consumptive period. I believe there is one scene in which Yves is not intensely sucking on a cigarette, and further, the necessary lines are drawn and glasses emptied.
But to portray him as an addict would not do justice to this genius. We see a vulnerable boy. A boy who was not embraced by his parents for his homosexuality. Who was too young to head one of the largest couture houses (he was 21 when he became head designer of Christian Dior) and who had a nervous breakdown when he was called up to join the French army to fight in the war in Algeria, his homeland.
All of that, and his masterful talent, was fodder for a grand and captivating life, tumultuous affairs, a deep love for Pierre Bergé, and a liaison with Karl Lagerfeld's lover. Go see it and get inspired because you won't find anyone better, more fascinating, and more endearing than Yves.
