Paris Olympic Events: Yves St Laurent Museum to celebrate Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games with Special Screening of historic fashion show

As part of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the 11 institutions that form the Colline des Arts (located around the Chaillot hill region of Paris) have devised a unique programme focusing on the body in movement, with workshops, seminars, shows and demonstrations scheduled for June 14 - 16 2024, running each day continuously from 11 am to 6 pm.

A rich artistic and cultural programme, free to attend, is planned throughout the weekend to celebrate the extraordinary adventure as Paris is making preparations to host the Games.

Screening of the recording of the July 1998 Yves St Laurent fashion parade at the Stade de France,
will take place June 14 - 16 2024

To mark the occasion, the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris is inviting the public to revisit the Yves Saint Laurent fashion show by screening the recording of the parade that was designed for the World Cup final on 12 July 1998 at the Stade de France. 

To the revisited rhythms of Ravel's ‘Bolero’, 300 models took to the catwalk to celebrate 40 years of the couturier's creations, in a choreography orchestrated by Olivier Massart. Nine hundred people were called on to organise this fifteen-minute event, which will be watched live by 1.7 billion television viewers around the world.

For the 1998 World Cup final, Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé imagined a gigantic and sublime fashion show staged at the Stade de France. To the revisited rhythms of Ravel's "Bolero", three hundred models took to the catwalk to celebrate forty years of the designer's creations, in a choreography skilfully orchestrated by Olivier Massart. Nine hundred people were called on to organise this fifteen-minute event, which will be watched live by 1.7 billion television viewers around the world.

The Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris is currently hosting the exhibition "SHEER: THE DIAPHANOUS CREATIONS OF YVES SAINT LAURENT" until August 25, 2024.

The museum noted that few garments are entirely transparent, as transparency seemingly contradicts the fundamental purpose of clothing: to cover, conceal, or protect the body. 

Fascinated by this paradox and the powerful impact of diaphanous fabrics, Yves Saint Laurent began incorporating materials such as chiffon, lace, and tulle into his designs in the 1960s. Throughout his forty-year career, he frequently revisited the theme of transparency, often combining these delicate materials with embroidered or opaque fabrics. In doing so, he masterfully resolved these contradictions, empowering women to express their bodies with pride and confidence.

Yves Saint Laurent was the first fashion designer to pose nude to promote a perfume, provocatively proclaiming, "I am ready to do anything to sell my brand." Initially deemed scandalous, this image has since become a symbol of Yves Saint Laurent's groundbreaking work.

Images from the Yves St Laurent Museum in Paris.

Fashion Exhibition and Culture: "Sheer : The diaphanous creations of Yves Saint Laurent" all the rage in Paris

As exemplified by designer Anthony Vaccarello's latest collection for Saint Laurent and echoed in numerous shows (from Chloé and Courrèges to Givenchy) during this season's Paris Fashion Week, sheer and see-through fabrics have reemerged as a dominating trend for Autumn/Winter 2024 in the world of fashion.

"Sheer: The Diaphanous Creations of Yves Saint Laurent" (running until August 25 2024)
at the Musée Yves Saint Laurent in Paris 

Yves Saint Laurent championed the notion of transparency back in 1966 with his first see-through look and two years later his emblematic now-famous "see-through blouse," a chiffon creation provocatively worn without anything underneath as observed in the recent trends, highlighting the enduring impact of Yves Saint Laurent's designs with sheer fabrics retaining its powerful allure.

Vaccarello's emphasis on transparency serves as a connection between the past and present, prompting contemplation on the transformation of fashion aesthetics and societal norms.  In this autumn/winter 2024 collection, he prominently featured sheer fabrics, with a majority of models confidently showcasing bare breasts under translucent blouses, fitted T-shirts, and sleeveless tops. Some even adorned transparent pencil skirts, revealing high-legged knickers underneath.  The allure of Saint Laurent's designs has transcended the runway, captivating stars to don these daring creations on the red carpet during the current awards season.

The Musée Yves Saint Laurent in Paris is currently presenting a timely exhibition titled "Sheer: The Diaphanous Creations of Yves Saint Laurent" (running until August 25 2024). This exhibition spotlights the designer's groundbreaking exploration of transparency in fashion. In conjunction with concurrent exhibitions at the Fondation Louis Vuitton and Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, this cultural trifecta provides a distinctive diversion amid the vibrant activities of Paris Fashion Week.

Exhibition Catalogue
Forewords and essays: Elsa Janssen, Anne-Claire Laronde, Emilie Hammen, Shazia Boucher, Domitille Eblé, Judith Lamas, Alice Coulon-Saillard, Sophie Henwood. 
Graphic designer: Agnès Dahan. Photograph: Patricia Canino
Published by LIENART, 128 pages, 100 illustrations. On sale at the bookshop.

This exhibition signifies the second installment of a narrative that commenced last summer at the Museum of Lace and Fashion in Calais.  With curator Anne Dressen serving as its artistic advisor, the "Sheer" exhibition has been crafted by Pauline Marchetti, an architect whose work delves into the interplay of perception and space.

Featuring approximately 40 textile pieces, the exhibition showcases iconic Yves Saint Laurent creations, such as the groundbreaking topless blouse from spring-summer 1968 and the feather-belted dress. Additionally, it includes more distinctive pieces, some sourced from the SAINT LAURENT rive gauche collections.

Furthermore, the exhibition unveils previously undisclosed aspects of the creative process, including patterns on tracing paper and a collection of drawings by Yves Saint Laurent influenced by the paintings of Goya.

All that Glitters is "GOLD by Yves Saint Laurent" in Paris - on show until May 14, 2023

On show in the centre of Paris the world's fashion capital, on avenue Marceau in the 16th arrondisement, just a stone's throw from the river Seine, the Musée Yves Saint Laurent celebrates the 60th anniversary of the designer’s first eponymous collection with an exhibition 

entitled “Gold by Yves Saint Laurent”, running until May 14, 2023.  

2022 also marked the fifth anniversary of the opening of the museum.

Focusing on gold, faithful followers of YSL and fashionistas alike can immerge themselves in a curated world of the designer's much admired work, from his iconic haute-couture and ready-to-wear fashion to accessories, bold jewellery and luxurious formal pieces and rich designs, and examine the role that gold played in the couturier's work.

“It is today’s black. I always enliven black with gold, through buttons, belts and chains”, Yves Saint Laurent.

The "gold" themed exhibition highlights the designer’s work, from the first buttons on his pea coats to his fluidly golden dresses and Saint Laurent's special mastery touch handling the dazzling radiance of gold in a wide array of materials, including brocade, laces, lamé, sequins, leathers, embroidery… The Yves Saint Laurent’s gold touch extended even to his perfume.

While charting the couturier illustrious career that took off at the House of Dior following the death of Christian Dior his mentor, the exhibition gives insight into his celebrated collections, referencing the many landmark works such as Le Smoking and Les Transparences, as well as his work with glossy magazine photographers such as David Bailey, and his glamorous clients including Zizi Jeanmaire and Catherine Deneuve, and such personalities as Loulou de La Falaise and Paloma Picasso.  

By popularizing gold and modern femininity as imagined by Saint Laurent, women were free to be individuals.

The golden era of Saint Laurent's success was marked between the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 1980s when he was a frequent patron of Paris' trendy nightclubs and lavish parties, and the lure of seductive Hollywood stars, the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlene Dietrich, who inspired the iconic couturier with a certain energy, elegance and glamour.

Towards the top of the stairs at 5 avenue Marceau was Saint Laurent's studio, the epicentre and heart of the couture house for nearly 30 years, preserved as it was when the haute couture house closed in 2002.

In this light and inspirational room, one can imagine the days when the designer worked endlessly with his colleagues and fitting models, with sketches and fabric swatches spread out on the desks, as well as a mannequin with a fitted jacket with gold embroidery in place, trays of buttons and trimmings, and rolls of fabrics in one corner.  

One wall of cabinets is filled with files, reference books and documents of the designer's work, while a large mirror dominates an entire wall reflecting back the amazing spectacle of the designer atelier.

In all, there were some 40 Haute-Couture and Ready-to-Wear dresses, as well a selection of jewellery, perfumes, and accessories.

The golden touch of Yves Saint Laurent lives on.

All photos by Lucia Carpio