Grandmaster yves

Everyone who had an invite to the YSL premiere took out their tuxes yesterday evening. It was a black, stylish company who sipped champagne and nibbled on popcorn at the Amsterdam Vondel church. Because everyone knew how to work the dress code ‘creative black tie.’ Fiona Hering chose for a sequined dress from Mada van Gaans, her date illustrator Piet Paris wore a Francisco van Benthum skirt, Hilmar Mulder looked lovely in a form-fitting olive green dress with the bamboo bag from Gucci. Sarah Mendes, responsible for the PR for Yves Saint Laurent beauté, looked absolutely smashing in a blue tux which would’ve made Yves intensely happy.

After a glass, a kiss left, and a ‘you look fabulous’ right, the film began. I think that everyone present had already seen the l’Amour Fou documentary about Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge’s art collection so the story didn’t come as a surprise. Perhaps it was even extra fun to see this sensational life in a dramatised narrative. Especially because everything was done so prettily. The casting was perfect which brought Karl Lagerfeld (because Yves and Karl used to frequent the same scene), Loulou de la Falaise, Carmel Snow (editor of the American Harper’s Bazaar), and, of course, Yves to life.

“I think there’s one scene in which Yves isn’t intensely sucking on a cigaret, and a fair number of lines are put on tables and glasses emptied”

And then for the dresses. For this film, director Jalil Lespert was granted access to Yves’s 1500 creations. It’s fabulous to see the Mondriaan dress, the trapeze dress, the tux on moving (and gorgeous) women. Like you got to taste that great era yourself. Though perhaps you shouldn’t take that tasting too literal since it was a rather consumptive period, to say the least. I believe there’s only one scene in which Yves isn’t intensely sucking on a cigaret, and a fair number of lines are put on tables and glasses emptied.

But to say he was an addict would not do this genius justice. We see a vulnerable boy. A boy that wasn’t loved by his parents because of his homosexuality. He was at the head of one of the greatest couture houses too soon (he was 21 when he became Christian Dior’s head designer), and got a nervous meltdown when he was summoned to join the French army to fight in the war against Algeria, his country of birth.

All of this and his incredible talent, was enough to create a grand and intense life with passionate affaires, a deep love for Pierre Bergé, and a liaison with Karl Lagerfeld’s lover. Go see and get inspired because better, more interesting, and more touching than Yves is hard to find.

YSL vanaf 10 april in de bioscoop.