This month saw the opening of the Musée Yves Saint Laurent, located in Marrakech- a city that served as a muse for the legendary French couturier. Located at the site of his former vacation home, the museum will showcase a extensive collection of the pieces that defined the designer’s dazzling career.
Filling the 400-square-meter, permanent exhibition space is a comprehensive look at the legacy Saint Laurent’s masterpieces left on the fashion world. Set around five themes that were central to the designers work – Masculine-Feminine; Black, Africa and Morocco; Imaginary Voyages; Gardens; and Art – the exhibition will grant visitors a close look at some of his most famed pieces, such as the pea coat, the Mondrian dress, “le smoking” and the safari jacket. Among the stunning array of couture pieces on display are thousands of drawings and photos, charting the history of the fashion house and firmly securing Saint Laurent’s status as more than just a designer; in the words of his business and romantic partner, Pierre Bergé, “you need an artist to make fashion” and an artist Saint Laurent certainly was.
Twinned with the opening of a second YSL museum in Paris, the Marrakech site dedicates itself to the injection of extravagant colour in the designer’s work which appeared after his first visit to the city in 1966. According to Saint Laurent, “Marrakech taught [him] colour…before Marrakech, everything was black.” Whilst Paris’ exhibition showcases his dark, sleek, classic designs, the Moroccan site boasts a rainbow of fabrics and dazzling colour, heavily inspired by the cultural legacy of Marrakech that Saint Laurent fell in love with. The two exhibitions clearly flaunt the duality of the designer and captures the progression of his adventurous career.
The site itself is heavily inspired by the creative calibre of the designer; the building’s contemporary design borrows and injects the couturier’s work into its exterior and makes use of local materials. Employing the weft technique used in fabric making, the building (according to French architects Studio KO) references the “succession of delicate and bold forms that characterised the work of Yves Saint Laurent”.
As well as housing the permanent exhibition dedicated to the designer, the site will also offer space for temporary exhibitions in addition to a research library with more than 6,000 books, a bookshop, an auditorium and a cafe. The site is immersive, ambitious and a brilliant space to inspire future generations of young creatives with the magnificence of Saint Laurent’s career.
LINE are bringing a touch of Moroccan extravagance to the society with a cocktail event with MoSoc at Warwick University. Tickets are available Monday and Tuesday (30th and 31st October) on Warwick Campus’ Piazza. Find out more info on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lineWFS/
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