Kering describes Saint Laurent as one of the world’s prominent fashion houses and says it currently has more than 300 stores worldwide.3

Yves Saint Laurent (1936–2008) was one of the most important fashion designers of the 20th century.

Before establishing his own house, Saint Laurent became famous as the young successor to Christian Dior. He became Dior’s artistic director at only 21 years old, following Dior’s death in 1957.

His experience at Dior gave him an understanding of traditional haute couture, but his own vision was considerably more modern.

Saint Laurent believed fashion should not simply make women look beautiful—it should give them freedom, confidence, and power.

This philosophy became fundamental to the house.

Instead of designing women exclusively around traditionally feminine silhouettes, he frequently borrowed from the male wardrobe:

• tuxedos
• trousers
• safari jackets
• military-inspired clothing
• tailored jackets
• blazers
• shirts
• ties

Kering summarizes his ambition as creating clothing that would “set women free”, particularly through pieces such as the tuxedo and saharienne (safari jacket).4

That idea became one of Saint Laurent’s greatest contributions to fashion.

Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé founded the fashion house in 1961.

The first headquarters were established in Paris, and the house’s iconic YSL monogram was created by the French graphic designer Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron, better known as Cassandre. The intertwined initials remain one of the most recognizable logos in fashion.

The first Saint Laurent collection was presented on 29 January 1962 and received immediate international attention.

Interestingly, the first piece produced by the house’s ateliers was a little black dress.

From the beginning, Saint Laurent positioned itself between the tradition of Parisian haute couture and a more contemporary idea of fashion.

One of Saint Laurent’s most important achievements came in 1966.

The house introduced Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, a luxury ready-to-wear line.

This was revolutionary.

At the time, haute couture was based largely on exclusive, made-to-measure garments produced for individual clients. Saint Laurent recognized that modern fashion could reach a much larger audience without abandoning luxury or creative authority.

Rive Gauche therefore helped establish the modern concept of designer luxury ready-to-wear.

The name referred to Paris’s Left Bank (Rive Gauche), an area associated with intellectuals, artists, students and avant-garde culture.5

This was more than a commercial decision. It represented a change in the philosophy of luxury:

Fashion could be prestigious and influential without being inaccessible.

Kering describes Rive Gauche as the first luxury ready-to-wear line of its kind and considers its introduction a major turning point in fashion history.6

If there is one garment that symbolizes Yves Saint Laurent, it is probably Le Smoking.

In 1966, Saint Laurent introduced the tuxedo suit for women.

The idea was provocative because the tuxedo had traditionally been associated with men’s formalwear.

Saint Laurent transformed it into a powerful female silhouette.

The result was:

black tuxedo + sharp tailoring + feminine body + masculine codes

It became an enduring symbol of Saint Laurent.

Rather than suggesting that women needed to dress “like men,” Saint Laurent demonstrated that traditionally masculine clothing could become a new form of female authority and sensuality.

Le Smoking therefore became both a fashion object and a cultural statement.7

It remains one of the central references in Saint Laurent collections today.

Saint Laurent’s historical vocabulary extends far beyond Le Smoking.

Mondrian Dress

In 1965, Yves Saint Laurent presented dresses inspired by the abstract paintings of Dutch artist Piet Mondrian.

The geometric dresses used blocks of primary colors separated by black lines.

They became some of the most recognizable examples of the relationship between fashion and modern art.8

Saharienne

The safari jacket, or saharienne, transformed utilitarian and colonial-inspired clothing into a high-fashion garment.

It became another expression of Saint Laurent’s fascination with masculine, military and functional clothing.

Sheer and transparent clothing

Saint Laurent also pushed boundaries with transparency and sensuality, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s.

Jewelry and accessories

The house developed elaborate jewelry and accessories that complemented its clothing, helping establish the broader Saint Laurent lifestyle.

Yves Saint Laurent understood that fashion was connected to music, film, photography, art and celebrity culture.

The house began working with cinema relatively early.

In 1967, Saint Laurent designed clothing for Catherine Deneuve in Luis Buñuel’s film Belle de Jour.9

The relationship between Saint Laurent and cinema became an important part of the brand’s identity.

The house’s visual communication also became famous through photographers such as:

• Helmut Newton
• Robert Mapplethorpe
• Jeanloup Sieff
• David Bailey

Kering specifically highlights the influence of campaigns photographed by Helmut Newton and Robert Mapplethorpe on Saint Laurent’s visual history.10

This helped establish something important:

Saint Laurent was not simply selling clothes; it was selling an image, attitude and cultural world.

The 1970s were an important period for Saint Laurent.

The house became increasingly associated with:

• sensuality
• nightlife
• transparency
• strong shoulders
• exotic influences
• dramatic eveningwear
• androgyny
• celebrity culture

The Spring/Summer 1971 “Libération” collection, inspired by 1940s fashion, initially caused controversy because of its exaggerated silhouettes and provocative historical references.

Its strong shoulders would eventually become influential on the power-dressing aesthetic of the 1980s.

In 1977, Saint Laurent launched Opium, one of the house’s most famous fragrances. The fragrance was notable for the way the house connected perfume with the broader world of couture and fashion.11

By the 1980s, Yves Saint Laurent was no longer simply a successful designer.

He had become a cultural institution.

In 1983, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York held a retrospective dedicated to Yves Saint Laurent.

It was historically significant because he became the first living fashion designer to receive such an honor from the museum.12

His influence extended beyond clothing into:

• feminism
• gender expression
• art
• celebrity culture
• photography
• cinema
• luxury branding

During the 1990s, Yves Saint Laurent gradually reduced his involvement with the fashion house.

In 1997, he appointed Alber Elbaz and Hedi Slimane to lead the women’s and men’s Rive Gauche lines respectively while he continued working on haute couture.13

Eventually, Saint Laurent retired from haute couture in 2002.

The designer died in Paris in 2008.

His personal legacy remains inseparable from the identity of the fashion house.

Saint Laurent entered a new corporate era in 1999, when it became part of what is now Kering.14

Kering’s luxury portfolio has included major houses such as:

• Gucci
• Saint Laurent
• Bottega Veneta
• Balenciaga
• Alexander McQueen
• Boucheron

For Saint Laurent, Kering provided the global infrastructure necessary to expand the house while maintaining its distinctive identity.

One of the most consequential periods after Yves Saint Laurent was the tenure of Hedi Slimane.

Slimane became creative director in 2012.

He radically modernized the brand’s image and, importantly, changed the public-facing name from “Yves Saint Laurent” to “Saint Laurent” for the fashion line.

The YSL monogram, however, remained an important part of the house’s visual identity.

Slimane’s Saint Laurent became associated with:

• skinny silhouettes
• rock music
• leather jackets
• skinny jeans
• Chelsea boots
• black tailoring
• youth culture
• Parisian nightlife
• rock-star aesthetics

This was a major transformation.

Yves Saint Laurent had established the original vocabulary of modern fashion; Slimane translated that heritage into a distinctly 21st-century rock aesthetic.

In 2016, Belgian-Italian designer Anthony Vaccarello became Saint Laurent’s Creative Director.15

He remains in the position today.

Vaccarello’s interpretation is different from Slimane’s but still strongly connected to the Saint Laurent DNA.

His Saint Laurent emphasizes:

sexuality + tailoring + minimalism + glamour + Paris + rock attitude

His women’s collections often feature:

• extremely sharp shoulders
• mini dresses
• thigh-high boots
• leather
• sequins
• sheer fabrics
• satin
• structured tailoring
• dramatic eveningwear

His men’s collections similarly emphasize:

• slim tailoring
• leather
• dark colors
• sharp shoulders
• elongated silhouettes
• rock-inspired styling

Kering describes Vaccarello’s approach as a mixture of genres with a cinematic dimension, while maintaining the house’s Parisian identity and craftsmanship.16

Saint Laurent today operates as a broad luxury fashion house.

Women’s fashion

Includes:

• dresses
• skirts
• blouses
• jackets
• coats
• trousers
• tailoring
• knitwear
• eveningwear

Men’s fashion

Includes:

• suits
• jackets
• coats
• shirts
• trousers
• knitwear
• leather clothing
• accessories

Leather goods

This is one of Saint Laurent’s most commercially important categories.

Examples include:

• handbags
• shoulder bags
• crossbody bags
• clutches
• wallets
• cardholders
• belts

Shoes

Saint Laurent produces:

• pumps
• sandals
• boots
• ankle boots
• sneakers
• loafers
• high heels

Accessories

Including:

• sunglasses
• jewelry
• scarves
• belts
• hats
• other fashion accessories

Kering confirms the house’s current offer includes women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, jewelry and eyewear.17

The YSL monogram is arguably as famous as the name Saint Laurent itself.

It was designed by Cassandre in 1961 and consists of the interlocking letters:

Y — S — L

The logo has a highly recognizable Art Deco quality.

Unlike many luxury brands that rely primarily on a wordmark, Saint Laurent has two powerful visual identities:

SAINT LAURENT

and

YSL

The distinction is useful when looking at the brand today.

The wordmark communicates the contemporary fashion house, while the YSL monogram functions strongly on handbags, accessories, beauty products and historical branding.

The easiest way to understand Saint Laurent is through several recurring concepts.

1. Androgyny

Saint Laurent frequently blurs traditional boundaries between men’s and women’s clothing.

2. Power

Tailoring is central to the brand.

The woman wearing Saint Laurent is often presented as confident, independent and commanding.

3. Sexuality

Unlike some minimalist luxury brands, Saint Laurent embraces overt sensuality.

Mini dresses, exposed legs, leather, sheer fabrics and high heels are recurring elements.

4. Black

Black is arguably Saint Laurent’s signature color.

The house uses black not merely as a neutral but as a statement of sophistication, mystery and authority.

5. Paris

Saint Laurent is deeply tied to Parisian culture.

Its identity combines couture heritage with nightlife, art, cinema, music and intellectual culture.

6. Rebellion

The brand has historically challenged conventional ideas about how women “should” dress.

That rebelliousness remains part of its luxury identity.

If you wanted to describe Saint Laurent’s aesthetic extremely simply:

Parisian luxury with rock ‘n’ roll attitude, sharp tailoring and unapologetic sensuality.

Or even more simply:

Elegant + dark + sexy + rebellious + sophisticated.

Saint Laurent occupies a distinctive position within French luxury.

This is why Saint Laurent often appeals to someone who wants luxury that feels cool rather than traditionally conservative.

One of the most interesting aspects of the brand is that its history is connected to changing ideas about women’s identity.

Yves Saint Laurent didn’t invent women’s trousers or women’s tailoring, but he helped make masculine clothing a legitimate and glamorous part of women’s fashion.

The tuxedo is the clearest example.

His designs challenged the assumption that femininity required:

• skirts
• dresses
• delicate silhouettes
• conventional glamour

Instead, Saint Laurent presented another kind of femininity:

a woman can be feminine while wearing a tuxedo.

That idea became enormously influential.

Art has always been important to the house.

The most famous example is the 1965 Mondrian collection, but Saint Laurent’s relationship with art goes much further.

The brand has historically incorporated references to:

• painting
• photography
• cinema
• theater
• literature
• music
• architecture

This is part of why Saint Laurent is often treated not simply as a clothing company but as a cultural and artistic institution.

In 2023, Saint Laurent launched Saint Laurent Productions, marking an expansion of the house into filmmaking and cinema.

This is particularly logical given Saint Laurent’s historical relationship with film.

It reflects the house’s broader strategy of treating fashion as part of a larger cultural universe rather than as clothing alone.

Saint Laurent operates at the very high end of the luxury market.

Its customers generally buy the brand for several reasons:

Product

The clothing, handbags and footwear are luxury products.

Craftsmanship

The house emphasizes its French fashion heritage and technical expertise.

Design

Saint Laurent has an immediately recognizable aesthetic.

Status

The YSL name has enormous cultural recognition.

Identity

Perhaps most importantly, wearing Saint Laurent communicates a particular personality.

The brand tends to communicate:

“I am sophisticated, but I am not conventional.”

Saint Laurent’s importance comes from the fact that the house repeatedly changed the relationship between fashion and society.

Its major contributions include:

1. Making women’s tuxedos iconic
2. Bringing menswear codes into women’s fashion
3. Helping establish luxury ready-to-wear
4. Connecting fashion with art
5. Connecting fashion with cinema
6. Using photography as a major part of brand identity
7. Normalizing a more androgynous approach to dressing
8. Making black a powerful luxury statement
9. Combining high fashion with youth culture
10. Building a recognizable lifestyle rather than simply selling garments

This is why Yves Saint Laurent is considered one of the defining designers of 20th-century fashion.

1936 — Yves Saint Laurent is born in Oran, Algeria.

1950s — He moves to Paris and enters the world of haute couture.

1957 — Becomes artistic director of Christian Dior at age 21.

1961 — Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé establish their own fashion house.

1962 — First Saint Laurent collection is presented.

1965 — Mondrian-inspired collection becomes an icon.

1966 — Saint Laurent Rive Gauche launches; the designer introduces the women’s tuxedo.

1967 — Saint Laurent works on the wardrobe for Belle de Jour.

1968 — Men’s Rive Gauche collection launches.

1971 — “Libération” collection creates controversy.

1977 — Opium fragrance launches.

1983 — Metropolitan Museum of Art presents a major Yves Saint Laurent retrospective.

1999 — Saint Laurent joins Kering.

2002 — Yves Saint Laurent retires from haute couture.

2008 — Yves Saint Laurent dies.

2012 — Hedi Slimane becomes creative director.

2016 — Anthony Vaccarello becomes creative director.

2018 — Saint Laurent moves its headquarters to 37 rue de Bellechasse in Paris.

2023 — Saint Laurent Productions launches.

2025 — Cédric Charbit becomes CEO.

2026 — Saint Laurent continues under Anthony Vaccarello’s creative direction as one of Kering’s major fashion houses, with more than 300 stores globally.

If you strip away the history, celebrities and expensive products, the core DNA can be summarized like this:

The Saint Laurent formula

Paris
+
Tailoring
+
Black
+
Sexuality
+
Androgyny
+
Rock ‘n’ roll
+
Art
+
Rebellion
+
Luxury craftsmanship

That combination is what differentiates Saint Laurent from other luxury houses.

The brand isn’t primarily about quiet luxury or traditional aristocratic elegance.

It is about attitude.

Think of the evolution like this:

Yves Saint Laurent

→ challenged traditional women’s fashion
→ borrowed from menswear
→ introduced the women’s tuxedo
→ democratized luxury through Rive Gauche
→ connected fashion with art, film and culture

Hedi Slimane

→ transformed the house into a younger, rock-oriented brand
→ emphasized skinny silhouettes and black
→ modernized the Saint Laurent image

Anthony Vaccarello

→ combines Yves Saint Laurent’s tailoring heritage with Slimane’s rock attitude
→ adds extreme sensuality, glamour and cinematic drama
→ maintains a strong contemporary Parisian identity

So, although the designers have changed, the fundamental idea has remained remarkably consistent:

Saint Laurent is luxury fashion for someone who wants elegance with an element of danger.

That is arguably the essence of the house.

1. Saint Laurent | Couture & Leather Goods | Kering
2. HERITAGE | Saint Laurent | YSL MY
3. Saint Laurent | Maison Saint Laurent | Kering
4. Yves Saint Laurent appoints Anthony Vaccarello as Creative Director | Kering
5. Kering.com – Maison サンローラン | Kering
6. Kering.com – Maison Saint Laurent | Kering
7. Kering.com – Maison Saint Laurent | Kering
8. The Collector’s Guide to Yves Saint Laurent | Handbags & Fashion | Sotheby’s
9. Yves Saint Laurent nomme Anthony Vaccarello Directeur Artistique | Kering
10. HERITAGE | Saint Laurent | YSL MT
11. Le premier smoking – Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris
12. SAINT LAURENT rive gauche – Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris
13. SAINT LAURENT rive gauche – Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris
14. 时装屋 | Saint Laurent 圣罗兰 | YSL.CN
15. Yves Saint Laurent’s fashion Revolution
16. La création de la maison de couture Yves Saint Laurent – Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris
17. Creation of the Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture House – Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris