Producing the intricate, detailed, and carefully tailored fashions that debuted on runways in Paris and beyond was a meticulous process that Yves Saint Laurent followed faithfully. In Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style, on view at VMFA through August 27, 2017, the exhibition provides a behind-the-scenes look at how the fashion genius and his couture house worked.
The production of a haute couture garment was a complex process that began with a sketch, usually created during a peaceful retreat in the designer’s Marrakech home.
Saint Laurent’s drawings included specifics about ergonomics, “drape,” and the equilibrium that must be maintained between the fabric and the body. He would then meet with his chefs d’ateliers (workshop heads) to give them his drawings to be translated onto a toile, the preliminary garment made of white cotton.
Workshops had been divided between the métiers of dressmaking and tailoring. Saint Laurent, however, made the particular demand of having his workshop heads excel in both techniques. The toile was then fitted on the mannequin cabine (fitting model) and presented to Saint Laurent and the entire studio team, including his close colleagues Ann-Marie Muñoz and Loulou de La Falaise.
Once Saint Laurent had approved the toile after three or four fittings, it was time to choose the fabrics, colors, and adornments, such as exclusively made buttons. Then the toile was laid flat to create the paper pattern that would be used to cut the fabric. If the fabric was to be embroidered, the motif was either drawn in pencil or a paper cutout of the motif was applied to the toile. Sometimes the process was simplified, by draping the fabric directly onto the model’s body. Saint Laurent declared, “I can’t make any decisions without them.” The models were, he said, his “reality.”
Finally, a few days before the fashion show, in the large Second Empire style salon, Saint Laurent would choose among the many accessories displayed on trays and other embellishments.