Yves Saint Laurent is Coming to Seattle Art Museum!

YSL IS COMING!

The Seattle Art Museum's exhibitions and collections are consistently impressive, but this one is sure to bring in record droves of fashion and art lovers alike. So much so, that tickets are on sale now for the exhibition and are likely to sell out fast. That's fancy talk for get your tickets now! Lots to share about the exhibition, straight from the museum below:

Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style, opens October 11, 2016, and continues through January 8, 2017. Drawn from the archives of the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent and other private collections, this retrospective offers an intimate and comprehensive look at the lifetime achievement of Yves Saint Laurent, one of history’s most influential fashion designers. Featuring important examples of haute couture and ready-to-wear garments—some never shown publicly before—the exhibition reveals Saint Laurent’s artistic genius, his influence on fashion, and the creative process in his atelier.

Collection board. Fall-Winter 1965 haute couture collection. © Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent, Paris. 

The exhibition guides viewers on a path tracing the trajectory of Yves Saint Laurent’s life and career. Divided into eight thematic sections, it features 110 ensembles illustrative of his tremendous achievements and the sources of his design inspiration. 

Me getting fitted for my wedding. Just kidding! Yves Saint Laurent in his studio fitting a toile from the Fall-Winter 1977 haute couture collection. Model Kirat. ©André Perlstein. 

Ensembles early in the exhibition focus on Saint Laurent’s formative years at the House of Dior, including an example of a short evening dress from his successful debut Trapeze collection (1958). Later ensembles from Saint Laurent’s own couture house spotlight innovations that redefined women’s fashion: the peacoat (1962), the tuxedo (1966), the “First” pantsuit (1967), the safari jacket (1968).

Cocktail dress. Hommage to Piet Mondrian. Fall-Winter 1965 haute couture collection ©Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, Paris / Alexandre Guirkinger

Visitors will also see how Saint Laurent was inspired by art. The exhibition includes one of his famous dresses that pays homage to Piet Mondrian (1965) and dresses inspired by Pop art (1966). Also on view is an evening ensemble comprising a raffia coat and a silk dress embroidered with wooden beads (1967) loosely based on African art.

Yves Saint Laurent at home, 55 rue de Babylone, Paris, 1977. 

In addition to ensembles fully accessorized in the “total look” favored by Saint Laurent, numerous photographs, drawings, and production documents offer a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse into the creative workings of the fashion house and the private life of the couturier. Collection boards from 1962 to 2002—every Saint Laurent haute couture show—feature sketches and swatches that retrace 40 years of the maison de couture’s fascinating history. A room of muslins, the hand-sewn forms ateliers use to create a first draft of couture garments, offer a unique look into how the garments were constructed.

 The couturier at work in 1976 in his studio 5 avenue Marceau, Paris. © Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, Paris / Guy Marineau. 

 

The exhibition concludes in an explosion of color with a procession of evening wear ranging from black silk (1977) to blue-green chiffon (1985) to red silk crepe (1985) gowns to a white damask wedding gown (1995)—the traditional ending to an Yves Saint Laurent couture show.

The multifaceted exhibition is curated by Florence Müller, guest curator and Denver Art Museum’s Avenir Foundation Curator of Textile Art and curator of fashion in collaboration with Chiyo Ishikawa, SAM’s Deputy Director of Art and Curator of European Painting and Sculpture.

Tickets are on sale now. Due to anticipated high demand and limited capacity, timed ticketing will be in effect on certain high volume days for Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style.

Special Hours

• Monday 10 am-5 pm
• Closed Tuesday
• Wednesday 10 am-5 pm
• Thursdays 10 am-9 pm
• Friday-Sunday 10 am-5 pm

Daily Prices

• $24.95 Adult
• $22.95 Senior (62+), Military (with ID)
• $14.95 Student (with ID), Teen (13–17)
• FREE for children (12 and under)
• FREE for SAM Members 

Special Exhibition ticket prices are reduced by more than 50% on the first Thursday of the month. Tickets to SAM Collections and Installations are free. 

Head to visitsam.org/ysl for the most up-to-date ticketing information.