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Yves Saint Laurent

(1936-2008), Couturier

Sitter in 2 portraits
Born in Oran, French Algeria, Saint Laurent started his career in fashion early. In 1953 he won a fashion contest and travelled to Paris for the awards ceremony. Here he met the editor of French Vogue Magazine whose advice he followed to study haute couture. Upon graduating he began work for the House of Christian Dior. A year later, Dior died at the age of 52 and he succeeded him and became head designer. In 1983, Saint Laurent became the first living fashion designer to be given a solo exhibition by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He died in Paris in 2008 of brain cancer and his ashes were scattered in the Marjorelle Gardens, Marrakech, a place beloved to him which he often went to find refuge and inspiration.

Watch a film clip on the sitter from the BBC Archive in the Media section below

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Yves Saint Laurent, by Patrick Lichfield - NPG x128495

Yves Saint Laurent

by Patrick Lichfield
giclée colour print, 1969
NPG x128495

Yves Saint Laurent; Loulou de la Falaise, by Norman Parkinson - NPG x30157

Yves Saint Laurent; Loulou de la Falaise

by Norman Parkinson
C-type colour print, 1974
On display in Room 16 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG x30157

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