Yves Saint Laurent’s Legacy Lives On With Two New Museums
They’re set to open in Paris and Marrakesh in 2017
Yves Saint Laurent’s influence on the fashion industry is immeasurable; from the iconic Le Smoking tuxedo to his early adoption of ready-to-wear, the late designer will impact the way women dress for decades to come. Now, his legacy will be immortalised in two museums dedicated to his 50-year career. They are set to open in Paris and his beloved Marrakesh in the autumn of 2017.
Yves Saint Laurent’s former headquarters at 5 avenue Marceau, where the designer worked from 1974 to 2002, will house Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris. The building currently hosts the Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent, which will close this April to begin renovations for the museum — including the restoration of the interiors to what they looked like when Saint Laurent walked the halls. Visitors will have access to the couture salons and the designer’s own studio; a ferocious archivist, he preserved much of his work, from sketches and samples to records and catalogues. Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent currently has 5,000 couture pieces and 15,000 accessories in its possession.
In Marrakesh, a newly-constructed museum will open on Rue Yves Saint Laurent near the Jardin Majorelle, which the Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent acquired in 1980. Saint Laurent first visited Marrakech in 1966 and fell in love with the city. He purchased a home there and visited often; the city’s influence is apparent in many of his later collections. Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech will house a permanent collection and showcase temporary exhibitions. “It feels perfectly natural to build a museum dedicated to his oeuvre, which was so inspired by this country,” says Pierre Bergé, president of Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent and Saint Laurent’s former business partner and companion. “As for Paris, who needs to specify that it is where Yves Saint Laurent created all his work and built his career?” – Via Harper’s Bazaar US