Yves Saint Laurent and His Muses
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Fashion designers have long drawn inspiration from women with inimitable style. They are the muses, and they provide the flicker of brilliance that leads to a sketch — and then a sensation. Yves Saint Laurent, who died on Sunday at 71, had deep ties to many women who provided inspiration and friendship.
In the late 1960s, Saint Laurent was taken with the spirited French model Loulou de la Falaise. Betty Catroux and Claire Saint were also mainstays of his retinue, accompanying him to fashionable nightclubs and parties. Stars of the French screen, such as Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Hardy, were devoted to him. And when they wore his clothes, the world watched: When Bianca Jagger wore a white tuxedo suit to wed Mick Jagger in St.-Tropez, she famously ditched the blouse underneath it just before her 1971 nuptials. The look was a high point for glamour — and for Yves Saint Laurent.
