MUSéE YVES SAINT LAURENT

PLACEText: Wakana Kawahito

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Yves Saint Laurent, who has been featured in many movies over the past few years and became a remarkable person in the film industry, is the king of the mode style fashion of France. A museum dedicated to him opened in Paris in October 2017. The place which became the museum was originally the office of the Yves Saint Laurent Foundation and where Yves himself had used as an atelier and an office for 30 years. An aristocratic house was renovated and turned into this museum. There, you experience the creation of Yves Saint Laurent that you can feel Parisian elegance.

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The most impressive room in the museum is the atelier on the top floor. The room where Yves Saint Laurent actually taught design and did model fitting is left unchanged at the time . It could be called as the heart of the brand. The innermost part of the room is Yves’s desk, and the design drawings he actually painted and the work tools he used were left there. The bookshelf against the wall has Picasso and Mondrian art collections and books of folk costumes from various places which Yves had been inspired by for his design. When you see a variety of clothing accessories such as fabrics, ribbons and buttons left in every corner of this room, you might have an imagination that Yves Saint Laurent opens the door and gives instructions for the design at this moment.

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About 20,000 rare collections are displayed in the museum, including collections of over 5,000 haute couture, more than 15,000 accessories, design drawings and instructions that were actually produced. From the design picture and the instructions to the patterner, people can see the process of the production which can hardly be seen and feel euphoria by looking at the source of creation.

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When taking a closer look at the collection work, the beads looks like a jewel and the embroidery is like a painting. To such a splendid craftsmanship, people catch their breath and look at with a fixed gaze. Haute couture is the culmination of the best craftsmanship in each field and it can be said that it is the highest peak in French manufacturing. A piece of clothes is an art that can be worn.

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Even 50 years have passed, looking at many of designs by Yves Saint Laurent reconfirms people that his creative talent is universal. In addition, videos of episodes and interviews that cover Yves and Pierre Bergé, public and private partners, played in the museum makes it easy to see that the success of the brand couldn’t be happening without the relationship between these two people.

Visiting the museum before or after seeing Yves Saint Laurent movies, there will be benefits on both ways. People should appreciate amazingness of Yves Saint Laurent once again in touch with fashion, the life of a man who was fashionable, the work of haute couture’s heyday and design.

Musée Yves Saint Laurent
Address: 5 avenue Marceau, Paris 16ème
Opening Hours :11:00 – 18:00 (Fridays open until 19:00)
Closed on Monday
http://www.museeyslparis.com

Text: Wakana Kawahito
Translation: Yumiko Miyagawa
Photos: Wakana Kawahito

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