Yves Saint Laurent Jewelry (1962-today).
Yves Saint Laurent is recognized as one of the most influential designers of the 20th century. He had been the protégé of Christian Dior, hired as his assistant in 1957, and by the end of the 1950s, he was designing most of Dior’s costume jewelry. Dior’s early and unexpected death in 1957, designated Yves Saint Laurent as head designer for Dior.
In 1961, he established his own fashion house with the help of his then-partner Pierre Berger. He introduced jewelry to his couture collections and runway shows from their inception, his first collection in 1962 featured some notable jet pieces. Jewelry and accessories have continued to be an essential element of the Yves Saint Laurent look.
His jewelry exhibited an exotic, exuberant, extravagant style, and used modern and natural materials and revolutionary styles.
His muse and confidante Loulou de La Falaise joined the fashion house in 1972 and soon became responsible for accessories which included jewelry. Her designs were colourful, and extravagant, and were always striving to produce some surprising twist or innovation to each season’s look. She loved to use materials from nature, such as wood, shells, and semi-precious stones.
