Beat the Winter Blues with Yves Saint Laurent’s Flowers

After a particularly grey winter, my impatience for signs of spring sent me looking for blossoms, bulbs and color. Though the gardens of Paris have yet to produce much, the museums of Paris have admirably delivered. One show in particular, at the Yves Saint Laurent Museum in the 16th arrondissement, showcases the fields of flowers that were brought to life in the legendary designer’s creations. Please note, despite living in the capital of fashion for several decades, I am not a fashionista nor have I ever followed the fashion trends. But this is Paris, and there are subliminal forces (or great advertising campaigns) that have had an influence, malgré moi! So I recognized several dresses and images on display.

This elegant hôtel particulier (townhouse) was built in the second half of the 19th century, and became the mothership of YSL in 1974. The designer’s story and career are highlighted in the first room on the left with multiple examples of his creativity. Highlights and key moments include his youth in Algeria, his first trip to Paris at the age of 17, and the pivotal introduction to Christian Dior thanks to the director of Vogue in 1955. His mentorship with Christian Dior was cut brutally short following Dior’s death in 1957, which also led to the creation of YSL’s first and very successful couture collection called Trapeze.

A few years later, YSL opened his own fashion house, initially on the rue Spontini before moving to the present location on the avenue Marceau. Thanks to the expertise and support of his life and business partner, Pierre Bergé, YSL went on to develop some of the most innovative haute couture collections for women, with ready-to-wear collections and perfumes for both men and woman. His unbridled creativity brought us many iconic pieces including pea and trench coats, jumpsuits, tuxedos for women, and androgynous designs as well as scandalously transparent fabrics. One of his empowering mottos was: “Fashion is not created to embellish women but to give them confidence to express themselves.”

There are over 30 gowns on display in “The Flowers of Yves Saint Laurent” exhibit along with many accessories, photos, and sketches. Dresses from different decades are displayed together. I was often mistaken when trying to guess the date of their creation; this gave me a greater understanding of Yves St Laurent’s timeless style. The rooms were never too crowded – albeit briefly when clusters of students filed through the rooms. Sometimes their noses were very close to the dress, studying the workmanship and looking for details in the remarkable stitching.

Quotes from Marcel Proust float along the walls in the different display rooms, offering a moment of meditation. One of YSL’s favorite authors, Proust often used floral metaphors. Other walls are punctuated by the graceful work of the American artist Sam Falls, whose paintings are conceived outdoors, with nature. His pink wall hanging was made with flowers from his garden in upstate New York, using water reactive pigments on silk, while the larger one upstairs was made in the south of France. These three men all beautifully captured the ephemerality of flowers, creating a dialogue around our eternal quest for beauty.

Between the exhibition floors there are mezzanines offering another window into the YSL world, which deepened both my understanding and admiration. Excerpts from runway shows – from the 1980s to 2002 –  play continually, illustrating the inspiration YSL drew from flowers over the decades. The designer liked to surround himself with the inflorescences, foliage and plants that fueled his creativity and filled his apartment, atelier, country homes and gardens.

My favorite video was an unedited B&W film of YSL responding to the Proust Questionnaire in his apartment at 55 rue de Babylone in the 7th arrondissement. This revisited parlor game is yet another example of how Pierre Bergé worked from an early date, and throughout his life, for the posterity of YSL: the man, his work and his genius. Other videos include the curatorial team sharing insights and their thought process for this show as well as an interview with Madison Cox, the widow of Pierre Bergé and the president of the Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent Foundation.

Another transformative influences on YSL’s designs came from traveling in Russia, Spain, China, Africa, and beyond. It was a voyage to Morocco in 1966 that would first ignite his use of bold color. Here he discovered a lifelong haven on earth, which later became the final resting place for both YSL and Bergé.

In 1980 they discovered the estate of the French painter Jacques Majorelle, whose largest creation was actually his garden. Designed with both Islamic and Hispano-Moorish influences, it showcased several important botanical collections including cacti, palms, bamboos and banana species. Neglected after Majorelle’s death in 1962, YSL and Bergé acquired the property and restored it to save it from developers. The Majorelle garden is now one of the most visited sites in Marrakech. Bergé also created the Museum of Islamic Arts in Jacques Majorelle’s former studio. The adjoining villa was privatized by the couple and rebaptized the Villa Oasis; it was here that YSL designed most of his collections.

At the Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Paris, a final surprise awaits behind a white door marked “Studio.” This is where the magic happened. Visitors are given a unique opportunity to visit the office where YSL, his collaborators, assistants and models spent nearly 30 years changing the way women dressed. Everything has been left in place; fabric samples, pencils, sketches, ribbons, pins and knickknacks give you the impression YSL just stepped outside.

The walls are also lined with books, many featuring YSL’s preferred artists whose work also infused his collections: Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Vincent Van Gogh, Tom Wesselmann, Pierre Bonnard, Henri Matisse, among others. Mirrors on both ends of the room allowed YSL to study every angle at which his creations fell and moved on the models.

Following YSL’s retirement and the closing of his couture house in 2002, a retrospective runway show covering 40 years of creations was held at the Pompidou Center. Two years later the Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent Foundation was created with the sizable mission of conserving the 5,000 haute couture garments, 15,000 haute couture accessories and more than 50,000 drawings, as well as hosting exhibitions devoted to art, fashion and design and supporting cultural projects. Between 2004-2016 over 20 exhibitions were held in Paris. In 2017 Pierre Bergé decided to open two museums devoted to Yves Saint Laurent, one in Paris and the second in Marrakech.

What initially was intended to be a quick peek inside a famous couture house before lunch, ended up becoming a two-hour communion with floral-inspired artistry-  just a fraction of this very talented man’s prolific output. Such extravagance, color and beauty… By the end of the afternoon I also came to realize that YSL and I had not one, but two things in common: an unending passion for flowers and a delight for paper dolls when we were kids, folding little white flaps over thin cardboard models.

DETAILS

The Flowers of Yves Saint Laurent through May 4th, 2025 at the Yves Saint Laurent Museum, 5 ave Marceau, 16th.

The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 11 am to 6 pm. Last entry at 5:15 pm. Late opening on Thursday until 9 pm. Last entry at 8:15 pm. Closed Mondays.

Tel: +33 (0)1 44 31 64 00

Full-price ticket is 10 euros.