The designer who once said “I approached every country through dreams,” transports the visitors into his fantasy world. Throughout his collections, Yves Saint Laurent presented a dreamed vision of faraway countries, after a process of diving deep into local traditions, exploring the folklore, and distorting the clichés to suggest a sublimated depiction of traditional clothing.
India was one of Yves Saint Laurent’s major sources of inspiration. He reinterpreted clothing from the imperial wardrobe through a personal and feminine take on the traditional Indian coat to several draped dresses which built on the fundamentals of the Sari, the traditional dress of South India.
From China Yves Saint Laurent took the loose-fitting clothing, a characteristic of Chinese garments, and the use of floral prints, motifs and patterns. And from Japan comes the designer’s re-execution of the traditional Kimono garment as he preservied its fluidity and added more movement to its structure.
Yet undoubtedly the most successful fruit of YSL’s fascination in the Orient would be his highly renowned perfume Opium, launched in 1977 and still a best-seller to this day.
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