Even though the French designer never visited China, ‘Yves had loved Asian art since seeing the zen temples in Kyoto in the 1960s and collected antique Chinese objets at rue de Babylone,’ writes Alice Rawsthorn in her 1996 biography. He was entranced by its mythology, translating his Oriental daydreams into his seminal 1977 Imperial China-inspired Les Chinoises haute-couture collection, featuring lustrous cone hats, glossy qipao jackets, brocade and tassel embellishments. The collection also launched the maison’s controversially named fragrance Opium. Additionally, it formed the basis of the 2018 ‘Dreams of the Orient’ exhibition at the Musée Yves Saint Laurent in Paris.
Sketch by Yves Saint Laurent
Tom Ford took the creative reigns of Yves Saint Laurent from 1999-2004. For his final A/W 2004 collection for the maison, he paid tribute to the pagoda-shoulder silhouette of the iconic 1977 collection. His own interpretation of Yves Saint Laurent’s vision of China, Ford’s finale included seductive and satin-saturated forms, slinky qipaos, pagoda-shoulder ‘Le Smoking’ jackets, lucky-red scalloped dresses and fur coats shaved like dragon scales.
Yves Saint Laurent, 1986
INFORMATION
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Dine within a rationalist design gem at the newly opened Cucina TriennaleCucina Triennale is the latest space to open at Triennale Milano, a restaurant and a café by Luca Cipelletti and Unifor, inspired by the building's 1930s design
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The collections you might have missed this S/S 2026 menswear seasonBetween the headliners in Paris, Milan and Florence, a few off-schedule displays are deserving of honourable mention – from Martine Rose’s sexually-charged portrait of Kensington Market to Sander Lak’s appointment-only namesake debut
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Meet artist Michael McGregor, using hotel stationery as his canvasMichael McGregor unveils an exclusive postcard set made with notepads from The Luxury Collection properties in Minneapolis, San Francisco and Savannah
