Famed designer Yves Saint Laurent has called a press conference for Monday, fuelling speculation that the legendary king of haute couture is on the brink of retirement. Top fashion editors in Paris received invitations to the event by courier on Thursday, yet what exactly Yves intends to say remains a mystery.
“I can’t tell you what it’s about because we haven’t been told ourselves,” reports a spokesperson for the firm.
Rumours of illness have plagued the 65-year-old fashion icon, due to present his Spring-Summer 2002 couture collection on January 23. And industry watchers say Monday’s announcement from his Marceau salon in Paris’s ultra-chic 16th arrondissement may mark the end of a brilliant career.
Yves, who headed the venerable Dior empire aged 21, set up his signature firm with partner Pierre Berge before his 30th birthday and soon created a series of fashion firsts including the trench coat, the Mondrian print dress, the female tuxedo and androgynous trouser suits. In 1993 Pierre brokered a deal which sold the YSL conglomerate to France’s state-owned pharmaceutical giant Elf Sanofi, for which Yves and Pierre each pocketed $72 million.
Gucci acquired rights to YSL’s parent company and the YSL brand in 1999, whereby wunderkind Tom Ford handles the YSL ready-to-wear, allowing Yves the chance to focus on haute couture. However, the marriage was perhaps ill conceived. Yves reportedly found the Gucci group too business minded and may have been upset with its revamp of the house he had created.
For more on Yves Saint Laurent, check out HELLO!’s profile on the designer.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
