YSL Exhibit at the Petit Palais in Paris

With a line outside to make you cry even my press status got me very little VIP service

Composed of over 400 couture ensembles shown at this exhibit it was easy to spend over 2 hours trying to drink it all in. Le Petit Palais is such a grand space and they did an excellent job showing the magnitude and depth of Yves Saint Laurent’s work from the 60’s to his last collection in 2002.  As the venue had an issue with me lacking a ‘real press pass’- (I’ve been press since 1999 but never really had an official looking card) I was afraid to take pictures since they had been so strict about letting me in. Finally after explaining that I had come from New York to cover the show and that is was my birthday one of the museum gestapo took pity on me and granted me access. Once inside I realized why the line was so long. The show is amazing and impossible to see in 15 minutes. Like a kid in a candy store I desperately wanted to shoot away but had to be super sly about it. I managed to capture a few of my top picks. The last room ‘collision of colors’ was a fabulous peak into his great mind and showed his true adoration of bright colors. The walls were floor to ceiling color fabric swatches attached to 8×10 papers. Mirrors above multiplied the effect and the colors were divided by reds, yellows, blues, purples, and on. Sadly this small room was guarded closely and I unable to capture it.

I realized while taking it all in that YSL was so spot on to each decade’s trend. Here were the capes, the harem pants, and the homage to fine artists, the over the top embroideries, le smoking, poufy sleeves, the trapeze shape, the decadent gowns, the collaboration with celebrities and socialites, and the tailored woman in a power suit.

Displaying the looks more simply than previous shows at the Costume Institute who tends to have a lot of smoke and mirror effects, this exhibition showed the collections on simple white mannequins some with matching jewelry. I found myself drawn to the room, ‘the last ball’ which had gowns galore and a massive black wall of ‘le smoking’. The dynasty-esque 80’s vibe was super strong. Run don’t walk. This closes August 29^th. Rumor has it that USA could be the show’s next stop.