The renowned fashion historian’s extraordinary personal collection of vintage pieces by the French couturier.

Introducing Hamish Bowles’ Yves Saint Laurent collection, this catalog is also the first to present work from three stages of the couturier’s career: Dior, House of Yves Saint Laurent, and the SAINT LAURENT rive gauche line.  

Bowles was only nineteen when he acquired his first Yves Saint Laurent, a 1969 evening dress, found in a London thrift store. Organized chronologically, the book’s 55 couture garments are newly photographed and accompanied by personal texts by Bowles, original sketches, archival editorial imagery, and more, gorgeously reproduced on multiple paper stocks. 

Accompanying a recent exhibition at the Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Marrakech, this volume is a testament to Saint Laurent’s genius, his evolution through time, and his lasting influence. For students and collectors of Yves Saint Laurent, this monographic exhibition and catalog offer a rare opportunity to see previously unpublished material and new design details, drawn exclusively from a private collection instead of the runway. The included pieces were made for some of the most fashionable women of their time, including Betty Catroux, Nan Kempner, Lynn Wyatt, and Lily Safra.

About The Author

Hamish Bowles is an author, fashion collector, and historian. He is the creative director at large of The World of Interiors and the global editor at large at Vogue. Madison Cox is founder of the Yves Saint Laurent museums in Paris and Marrakech and president of the Fondation Jardin Majorelle and of the Fondation Pierre Bergé–Yves Saint Laurent. Alexis Sornin is director of the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech and of the Pierre Bergé Museum of Berber Arts. Oriole Cullen is senior curator of textiles and fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum.