Hello! It’s time for the final act. The second part of my moroccan journey. I was waiting to get back to this story, so, let’s continue!
One of the things that excited me the most about this trip was the Yves Saint Laurent Museum, a monument to the french designer, his work and all the things that he owed to the region that changed the way he used to see the fashion, and maybe even the world. Thanks to Morocco, Saint Laurent left the monochromatic style and traveled to a way more colorful palette, portraying the essence of the country.
While I was there, inside the museum located near the Jardin Majorelle, acquired by Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé in 1980, I could enjoy the first Christo Vladimirov’s solo exhibition in Morocco, which also was his first exhibition in a fashion museum: Femme 1962 – 1968, an ode to the female body and the evolution of the creative process, built from drawings and collages that had never been on view to the public and cohesioned by Wedding Dress, an iconic sculpture made by the artist in 1967. Did you know that Christo said that the moments in which each project is created cannot be repeated? “They are unique. They exist and they are gone forever”. That’s why he uses photographs to keep those instants. This is something we could apply to everyday life: all the moments, once lived, are gone. We should enjoy them as much as we can, shouldn’t we?
And speaking of enjoy, I really had a good time with the permanent exhibition of the museum: A retrospective of Saint Laurent essential work in a space designed by Christophe Martin. Just imagine been there, within the immersive place, in front of the world of Yves Saint Laurent, getting the opportunity to know more about what inspired him, through garments that have been rarely seen by the world. It’s such a fortune that, since the beginning, the designer decided to archive his pieces and prototypes, so we can have a glimpse to his mind. There are not only clothes, but also sketches and films, music and photographs. It is, without a doubt, and experience worth to live.
It is amazing, you know? To see how Yves Saint Laurent ceased to be the Christian Dior’s assistant to become a creative director worth of this title, that suited him just like a good tailored coat suits an elegant man.
Inside the museum I witnessed photographs and paintings made by many artists, such as Andy Warhol, Irving Penn or Bernard Buffet. Pieces of advertising, commissions made by magazines or portraits of Yves Saint Laurent that complete the experience.
There are also specifications sheets from its collections and patterns and canvas as well. Press kits and invitations, sales books, worksheets, collection boards and, of course, pieces of Yves Saint Laurent’s story, as a boy in Oran and as a man in Paris: indeed, the fondation Pierre Bergé–Yves Saint Laurent holds a unique, obsessive collection, one of its kind.
Since the beginning, his collections inspired by friends, such a Catherine Deneuve, or Morocco or China or Africa (the Imaginary Voyages), were controversials thanks to his fame. Did you know that Yves Saint Laurent created a collection named “The Scandal” inspired by Paloma Picasso?
Inside the walls of the Yves Saint Laurent Museum, you will find all the heritage of the brand and by the end, you’ll find yourself feeling a little bit closer to the genius behind that heart we see in every collection, the same heart, passion, dedication that he left for us in this world.
