Saint Laurent unites with Juergen Teller on career-spanning exhibition (and it comes with merch)

Saint Laurent is the official sponsor of Juergen Teller’s upcoming ‘i need to live’ Paris exhibition, and has also created an exclusive lifestyle collection adorned with the photographer’s works

T-shirt and record sleeve from Saint Laurent Rive Droite: Juergen Teller exhibition merchandise
Pieces from the Saint Laurent Rive Droite: Juergen Teller collection, coinciding with the photographer’s upcoming Paris exhbition ‘i need to live’
(Image credit: Courtesy of Saint Laurent)

Paris’ Grand Palais Ephémère reflects the shimmer of the Eiffel Tower in its delicately arched windows, an elegant setting for Saint Laurent’s latest artistic endeavour – as the official sponsor of ‘i need to live’, a new career-spanning exhibition from photographer Juergen Teller.

Running in Paris from 16 December 2023 to 9 January 2024, the exhibition is organised by the Réunion des musées nationaux Grand Palais, with full support from Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello. Expect to be taken through Teller’s most memorable works, spanning images, videos and installations, alongside a new photographic series created for the exhibition, each in his distinct, idiosyncratic style.

Saint Laurent Rive Droite: Juergen Teller

woman wears Saint Laurent Juergen Teller T-shirt with photograph of swan

(Image credit: Courtesy of Saint Laurent)

Alongside, a special lifestyle collection – carefully curated by Anthony Vaccarello and Juergen Teller – will be available as part of Saint Laurent Rive Droite, a ’cultural destination’ in Paris and Los Angeles that houses the brand’s collaborations and limited-edition projects.

’Juergen Teller is a tremendous photographer whose intelligence, humour, and respect make his work a veritable introspective game, where flashbacks are both tributes and allusions to the founding myths of the Maison Yves Saint Laurent,’ says Vaccarello. ‘Our collaborative work for Saint Laurent is all about the search for origins as a creative driving force.’

Saint Laurent Juergen Teller black and white cushion

(Image credit: Courtesy of Saint Laurent)

Teller is best known for his candid, seemingly off-the-cuff portraits of celebrities and models, often injected with humour and a uniquely twisted perspective. Now one of fashion’s best-known image-makers, he has worked with numerous fashion houses and brands on seminal campaigns, including with Vaccarello at Saint Laurent, solidifying a natural artistic pairing.

Other projects have seen Teller work with his wife Dovile Drizyte on series that explore their relationship, marriage and parenting, ’created in a grotesque style’, as Saint Laurent describes.

Ceramic plate with Saint Laurent Juergen Teller imagery

(Image credit: Courtesy of Saint Laurent)

The exclusive lifestyle collection is a trove of homeware, decorative objects, clothing, accessories, and vinyl, with each piece adorned with Teller’s imagery. To neatly tie the collection together, an elaborate selection of books, magazines and further publications related to Teller’s work will be displayed in Rive Droite stores in Paris and Los Angeles. These include the 40 books Teller has published alongside Gerhard Steidl of Steidl Verlag, Göttingen. 

After Paris, the exhibition will be shown at the Milan Triennale in spring of 2024.

‘i need to live’ is on show from 16 December 2023 to 9 January 2024 at the Grand Palais Ephémère in Paris.

The collection is available at Saint Laurent Rive Droite stores in Paris and Los Angeles and on ysl.com.

grandpalais.fr.

Tianna Williams is the Editorial Executive at Wallpaper*. Before joining the team in 2023, Williams taught scuba diving for three years before heading into journalism. Previously she has been involved covering social media and editorial for BBC Wales, Ford UK, SurfGirl Magazine, and Parisian Vibe, while also completing an MA in Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. Her work covers writing across varying content pillars for Wallpaper*.