Saint Laurent's chic vision still inspires today
Fashion is not only about what you wear and how you wear it, but also about the origins of your clothes. You may wear a trench coat now, but did you know that it was Thomas Burberry who first designed and produced it in 1914 as an officer's coat for the British Army?
The simple point being that we as modern human beings and perhaps more boastfully as Hopkins students, often take great pride in knowing more information about a subject than the average person does. So why shouldn't this thirst for knowledge continue beyond the classroom? Our knowledge of 18th-century British literature and the ins and outs of protein folding will only take us so far in terms of social interactions in our superficial world.
Lest we forget, first impressions are based pretty much solely on what we wear and how we look. It's important for us to know the history behind the clothes we wear. Not so much so that men can praise the inventor of the micro-miniskirt, but more so that both men and women alike can speak eloquently and intelligently of fashion and couture in social settings rather than discussing the latest biochem problem set.
That being said, let's jump-start your journey in fashion history by learning a little about the life of Yves Saint Laurent, a prolific designer and couturier who passed away this past summer.
Born Yves Henri Mathieu Saint Laurent in 1936 in Algeria, it was easy to see he had great fashion potential when at age three he told an aunt that her shoes did not work with her dress.
He left for Paris at age 16 and caught the eye of couturier Christian Dior after winning a design contest. Saint Laurent went to work under Dior's wing and took over the haute couture house at 21 when Dior died. Shortly after garnering fame for his intricate designs, Yves left Dior and started his eponymous line with his life - as well as business - partner Pierre Bergé.
His most successful creation was the tuxedo suit, or Le Smoking, for women, which many credit with revolutionizing the way modern women dress. Think of any business woman - your own mother perhaps, your best friend: her suit, and half her wardrobe, exists because of Yves Saint Laurent.
The simple point being that we as modern human beings and perhaps more boastfully as Hopkins students, often take great pride in knowing more information about a subject than the average person does. So why shouldn't this thirst for knowledge continue beyond the classroom? Our knowledge of 18th-century British literature and the ins and outs of protein folding will only take us so far in terms of social interactions in our superficial world.
Lest we forget, first impressions are based pretty much solely on what we wear and how we look. It's important for us to know the history behind the clothes we wear. Not so much so that men can praise the inventor of the micro-miniskirt, but more so that both men and women alike can speak eloquently and intelligently of fashion and couture in social settings rather than discussing the latest biochem problem set.
That being said, let's jump-start your journey in fashion history by learning a little about the life of Yves Saint Laurent, a prolific designer and couturier who passed away this past summer.
Born Yves Henri Mathieu Saint Laurent in 1936 in Algeria, it was easy to see he had great fashion potential when at age three he told an aunt that her shoes did not work with her dress.
He left for Paris at age 16 and caught the eye of couturier Christian Dior after winning a design contest. Saint Laurent went to work under Dior's wing and took over the haute couture house at 21 when Dior died. Shortly after garnering fame for his intricate designs, Yves left Dior and started his eponymous line with his life - as well as business - partner Pierre Bergé.
His most successful creation was the tuxedo suit, or Le Smoking, for women, which many credit with revolutionizing the way modern women dress. Think of any business woman - your own mother perhaps, your best friend: her suit, and half her wardrobe, exists because of Yves Saint Laurent.
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