Editing Yves Saint Laurent (designer) (section)

===Young designer===
In 1953, Saint Laurent submitted three sketches to a contest for young fashion designers organized by the [[International Wool Secretariat]]. Saint Laurent won first place. Subsequently, he was invited to attend the awards ceremony held in Paris in December.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Yves Saint Laurent {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/fashion-biographies/yves-saint-laurent|access-date=23 October 2020|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

During his stay in Paris, Saint Laurent met Michel de Brunhoff, editor-in-chief of the French edition of ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'' magazine and a connection to his father. De Brunhoff was impressed by the sketches that Saint Laurent brought with him and suggested he should become a fashion designer. Saint Laurent eventually enrolled in a course of study at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2024-05-28 |title=Yves Saint Laurent {{!}} Biography, Fashion, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yves-Saint-Laurent-French-designer |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> the council which regulates the [[haute couture]] industry and provides training to its employees. Saint Laurent eventually graduated as a star pupil. Later that same year, he entered the International Wool Secretariat competition again and won, beating his friend [[Fernando Sánchez (designer)|Fernando Sánchez]] and young German student [[Karl Lagerfeld]].<ref name="alice">Rawsthorn, Alice (1996). ''Yves Saint Laurent: A Biography.'' [[Nan A. Talese]]/[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] (New York City); {{ISBN|0-385-47645-0}}</ref>

Shortly after his win, he brought a number of sketches to de Brunhoff, who recognized close similarities to sketches he had been shown that morning by [[Christian Dior]]. Knowing that Dior had created the sketches that morning and that the young man could not have seen them, de Brunhoff sent him to Dior, who hired him on the spot.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Debut at Dior|url=https://museeyslparis.com/en/biography/les-debuts-chez-dior|access-date=23 October 2020|website=Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris|language=en}}</ref>

"Dior fascinated me," Saint Laurent later recalled. "I couldn't speak in front of him. He taught me the basis of my art. Whatever was to happen next, I never forgot the years I spent at his side." Under Dior's tutelage, Saint Laurent's style continued to mature and gain even more notice.<ref name="Yves Saint Laurent"/>

Although [[Dior]] recognised his talent immediately, Saint Laurent spent his first year at the House of Dior on mundane tasks, decorating the studio and designing accessories. Eventually he was allowed to submit sketches for the couture collection. With each passing season, more of his sketches were accepted by Dior. Some Dior collections from this period contain themes that would appear in Saint Laurent's independent work years later, such as the smock tops and safari jackets in Dior's 1957 "Libre" line.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Radieva |first1=Krasimira |title=An Investigation of the Silhouettes of Christian Dior |journal=Artte |date=2019-03-02 |volume=7 |issue=3 |page=173 |doi=10.15547/artte.2019.03.002 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.academia.edu/81000093|access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=1314-8796 |quote=...Dior based much of his Libre line on two classic items of clothing[:]...the vareuse, or fishermen's smock,...and...the khaki bush jacket|doi-access=free }}</ref> 

In August 1957, Dior met with Saint Laurent's mother to tell her that he had chosen Saint Laurent to succeed him as a designer. His mother later said that she had been confused by the remark, as Dior was only 52&nbsp;years old at the time. She claimed both she and her son were surprised when Dior died at a health spa in northern Italy of a massive heart attack in October 1957.<ref name="alice" />

[[File:Yves St Laurent early gown deYoung Museum San Francisco.jpg|thumb|upright|Yves Saint Laurent trapeze dress for Dior, 1958]]

In 1957, at 21 years old, Saint Laurent became the head designer of the House of [[Christian Dior S.A.|Dior]]. His spring 1958 collection almost certainly saved the enterprise from financial ruin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=Georgina |title=In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue |date=1978 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd. |location=Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England |isbn=0-14-00-4955-X |pages=204–205 |chapter=1948-1959 |quote=Yves Saint Laurent...at the age of 21 found himself perched upon the multi-million franc edifice of the most influential fashion house in the world....[W]ith his first collection,...he launched the [T]rapeze line....'Saint Laurent has saved France!' said the French headlines. 'The great Dior tradition will continue!'}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |page=251 |chapter=1958 |quote=For the nation's largest industry, the well-being of its most prominent couture house was of great social and economic importance....Saint Laurent's first collection...was a resounding success.}}</ref> The simple, flaring lines of his first collection for Dior, called the Trapeze line,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=Georgina |title=In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue |date=1978 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd. |location=Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England |isbn=0-14-00-4955-X |pages=246, 247 |chapter=1958 |quote=Saint Laurent's [T]rapeze line, backbone of his successful first collection for Dior.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |page=254 |chapter=1958 |quote=Saint Laurent's first collection introduced a new silhouette, the wedge-shaped 'Trapeze'...}}</ref> a variation of Dior's 1955 A-Line,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=Georgina |title=In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue |date=1978 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd. |location=Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England |isbn=0-14-00-4955-X |page=204 |chapter=1948-1959 |quote=...[W]ith his first collection,...[Saint Laurent] launched the [T]rapeze line – not too different from Dior's A line, but just different enough.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=Georgina |title=In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue |date=1978 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd. |location=Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England |isbn=0-14-00-4955-X |page=239 |chapter=1955 |quote=Dior produces his new A line, a triangle widened from a small head and shoulders to a full pleated or stiffened hem.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |page=230 |chapter=1955 |quote=Dior's...'A' line consisted of coats, suits and dresses flared out into wide triangles from narrow shoulders. The waistline was the cross bar of the A and could be positioned either under the bust in an Empire manner or low down on the hips.}}</ref> catapulted him to international stardom. Dresses in the collection featured a narrow shoulder that flared gently to a hem that just covered the knee.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |page=254 |chapter=1958 |quote=The dress sloped down from the shoulders to a widened hem just below the knee, maintaining a definite geometric line through precise tailoring.}}</ref>

In his second collection for Dior, presented for fall 1958, he iconoclastically lowered hemlines by five inches and was not greeted with the same level of approval that his first collection received, with many considering it a major misstep.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Bohan is Hired By Dior as Aide to St. Laurent |journal=The New York Times |date=1958-08-08 |page=23 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/08/08/archives/bohan-is-hired-by-dior-as-aide-to-st-laurent.html |access-date=2023-07-18 |quote=Bucking the trend toward kneecap-length skirts, St. Laurent dropped his hems to mid-calf or longer. Some viewers called the move a mistake.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Peterson |first1=Patricia |title=Fashion Trends Abroad, Paris: St. Laurent Drops Hem 5 Inches |journal=The New York Times |date=1958-08-01 |page=10 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/08/01/archives/fashion-trends-abroad-paris-st-laurent-drops-hem-5-inches.html |access-date=2023-07-18 |quote=...Yves St. Laurent...shocked us with his mid-calf skirts, which were about five inches longer than those shown by other Paris designers.}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Paris Demise of the No-Shape Chemise |magazine=Life |date=1958-09-01 |volume=45 |issue=9 |page=79 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yVMEAAAAMBAJ&dq=yves+saint+laurent&pg=PA79 |quote=The only designer to lower the skirt length was Yves St. Laurent,...who dropped his five inches. And where other designers' clothes looked young and scanty, St. Laurent's were often sedate and bundled up.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=What to Look For in Paris Styles |journal=The New York Times |date=1958-08-05 |page=18 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/08/05/archives/what-to-look-for-in-paris-styles.html |access-date=2023-07-18 |quote=...American store buyers are asking [St. Laurent] to shorten the hems...}}</ref> Soon after, [[Marc Bohan]] was hired to assist Saint Laurent,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Bohan is Hired By Dior as Aide to St. Laurent |journal=The New York Times |date=1958-08-08 |page=23 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/08/08/archives/bohan-is-hired-by-dior-as-aide-to-st-laurent.html |access-date=2023-07-18 |quote=Marc Bohan...has been hired by the House of Christian Dior to help Yves St. Laurent turn out Dior fashions for New York and South America...}}</ref> and the spring 1959 Dior collection brought lengths back to the knee in a well-received collection inspired by the 1930s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Donovan |first1=Carrie |title=Fashion Trends Abroad, Paris: Dior Has the Feeling of the Thirties |journal=The New York Times |date=1959-01-30 |page=18 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/01/30/archives/fashion-trends-abroad-paris-dior-has-the-feeling-of-the-thirties.html |access-date=2023-07-18 |quote=The spring collection, the third designed by young Yves St. Laurent, is full of the feeling of the Thirties....St. Laurent...now shows the same length that is shown all over Paris – an inch or two below the knee.}}</ref> Later collections for the House of Dior featuring [[hobble skirt]]s (fall 1959) <ref>{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=Georgina |title=In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue |date=1978 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd. |location=Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England |isbn=0-14-00-4955-X |page=259 |chapter=1959 |quote=Yves Saint Laurent at Dior raises the skirt to the knees...and pulls the skirt in to a tight knee-band....''Vogue''...show[ed] the hobble first in its 'least exaggerated'...form before leading up to the 'extreme trendsetter'.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Donovan |first1=Carrie |title=French Styles en Route: Dior Skirt Splits Critics |journal=The New York Times |date=1959-08-26 |page=32 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/08/26/archives/french-styles-en-route-dior-skirt-splits-critics.html |access-date=2023-06-30 |quote=...Yves Saint Laurent['s]...newly cut skirt...seemed to constrict the knees and then balloon above them. The skirt obviously was based on the hobble skirts of yore....The majority of the daily newspaper reporters immediately labeled it 'hobble'...}}</ref> and [[beatnik]] fashions (fall 1960)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=Georgina |title=In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue |date=1978 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd. |location=Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England |isbn=0-14-00-4955-X |page=272 |chapter=1960 |quote=The beat look is the news at Dior...pale zombie faces; leather suits and coats; knitted caps and high turtleneck collars, black endlessly....Saint Laurent's...'beat' collection is the most unpopular look in Paris, and his last for Dior.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mulvagh |first1=Jane |title=Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion |date=1988 |publisher=Viking, the Penguin Group |location=London, England |isbn=0-670-80172-0 |pages=262–263 |chapter=1960 |quote=Saint Laurent's decision to interpret...youthful street fashion in expensive materials caused a furore at Dior...His Left Bank 'Beat Look' included black leather suits and coats, knitted caps, high turtleneck collars, and biker-style jackets in mink and crocodile skin....Saint Laurent had failed to court the buyers and press by gently evolving a line collection by collection.}}</ref> were savaged by the press.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hall|first=Harriet|date=16 December 2016|title=Celebrating 70 years of Christian Dior: From the New Look to feminist slogans|url=https://www.stylist.co.uk/fashion/christian-dior-70-years-saint-laurent-galliano-raf-simons-maria-grazia-chiuri-new-look-fashion-style-history/121806|access-date=23 October 2020|website=Stylist|language=en}}</ref>

In 1959, he was chosen by [[Farah Diba]], who was a student in Paris, to design her wedding dress for her marriage to the [[Shah of Iran]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weller |first1=Sheila |title=The News Sorority: Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour -- and the (ongoing, Imperfect, Complicated) Triumph of Women in TV News |date=2015 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-312777-2 |page=72 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aXbZCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA72 |language=en}}</ref>