Publication by Grasset of Pierre Bergé's collection of essays, Liberté, j'écris ton nom (Freedom, I Write Your Name), whose title is borrowed from a poem by Paul Eluard. Pierre Bergé writes of his public life and France's social and political scene.
The fashion house's thirty years are celebrated during a gala at the Bastille Opera. 3,000 guests from around the world, including all the personnel and sub-contractors, join in the festivities. J. Mack Robinson, the first financier to back the fashion house, arrives from Atlanta. Yves Saint Laurent is accompanied by Catherine Deneuve. An enormous heart-shaped chocolate cake with “Love 1962-1992” written on it is greeted with applause.
During Seville's Universal Exhibition in 1992, Yves Saint Laurent presents a restrospective at the French Pavilion.
I cover collections four times a year, which comes to about 70 shows in a ten-day period. But I think that I have gained the greatest pleasure from Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Lacroix. Concerning Yves Saint Laurent, it was at a very special occasion, the Universal Exhibition in Seville in 1992. The French Pavilion was hosting a retrospective of thirty years of Yves Saint Laurent's in addition to his latest collection. At the end of the show, Saint Laurent sent out onto the catwalk, on this immense courtyard, to the tune of the Marseillaise, blue, white and red dresses, before spectators from around the world. It was something fabulous that I'll remember all my life.
- Janie Samet (the first journalist to interview Yves Saint Laurent in 1954) in Label France Magazine
Jean-François Dehecq / Jean-François DehecqElf-Sanofi President Jean-François Dehecq announces at a press conference that his company will merge with the Yves Saint Laurent group.
This is an important day since it marks the merger between Yves Saint Laurent and d'Elf-Sanofi. For thirty years, I have done everything in my power to create a brand worthy of representing France throughout the world. I have done it without compromise, without concessions. The first couturier to be exhibited at New York's Metropolitan Museum, I have shown my work in Moscow, in Saint Petersburg at the legendary Hermitage Museum, in Beijing in the middle of astounded Chinese, in Sydney, in Tokyo, and of course in Paris. I have tried in my way to show that fashion is an art. Along that path, I have followed the advice of my master Christian Dior and the everlasting lessons of Mademoiselle Chanel. I have tried in my way to show that fashion is an art. On that path, I have followed the advice of my master, Christian Dior, and the everlasting lesson of Mademoiselle Chanel. I have created for my era and I have tried to predict what the future would be. I have always distanced myself from fads and gimmicks and I have always believed that style is more important than fashion. Rare are those who have imposed their styles, while makers of fashion are legion. During all these years and especially these past ones, I have wondered about the durability of my house and its name. Today, I am happy that Yves Saint Laurent is moving under the control of Elf-Sanofi, which is a powerful group, but which more importantly is a French group. It is what I wished and I trust Mr. Dehecq to follow me and Pierre Bergé in the work that I have undertaken.
- Yves Saint Laurent
At a press conference at the InterContinental Hotel, Pierre Bergé announces the launch of a new YSL perfume: Champagne. Yves Saint Laurent declares, “It's for happy women, gay and light, who sparkle.”
The perfume is launched in September 1993, but is renamed simply Yves Saint Laurent by the end of the year following a lawsuit brought by the CIVC (the professional group representing champagne vintners). On 31 December 1993, when the perfume officially stops being sold under the name Champagne, it has already become the biggest-selling perfume in Europe.
It is launched in the US in September 1994 under the name Champagne at a party at the Statue of Liberty. The perfume meets the same degree of success and is renamed Yves Saint Laurent in 1998.
Pierre Bergé is named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador by Frederico Mayor, the organization's secretary general. In that capacity he organizes and participates in events and projects for UNESCO.
Since March 1998, he has also been a member of the board of trustees of the International Fund for the Promotion of Culture, in charge of raising additional funds for the “Transborder Artists” project.
Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent offer the creation of their read-to-wear line to Alber Elbaz, following the presentation of his collection for Guy Laroche. He will be officially named to the post in June 1998, with a three-year contract. A studio is built for him across the street from 5 Avenue Marceau.
Heidi Slimane is chosen to design the ready-to-wear line for men.
A 40-year retrospective of Yves Saint Laurent's couture creations is held at the Stade de France prior to the final match of the 1998 Football World Cup, pitting France against Brazil. 80,000 excited fans, including Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, and a billion television viewers watched the $4-million show featuring 300 models on the football pitch.
In the Stade de France, the day of the final, there will be a winner. But that winner will have been preceded by another winner: Yves Saint Laurent. A stage from antiquity: the three hundred most beautiful women in the world, covered in gold, silk and light, dressed by Saint Laurent, will accompany the gods of the stadium, who resemble ancient warriors.
- Paris-Match magazine
As odd a combination as it seemed--300 models parading in front of bewildered football fans--the show was just another example of what Saint Laurent has done for 40 years: bringing together the male and female, the high culture and the pop culture, “the shock of the two worlds,” as Bergé puts it.
- Time Magazine
M. et Mme Pinault, Pierre Bergé / Mr and Mrs Pinault, Pierre BergéPinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR) announces the acquisition of Yves Saint Laurent. The haute-couture operations become the property of Artémis, François Pinault's holding company, and continue to be run by Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent with the collaboration of their 158 qualified personnel at Avenue Marceau.
©DR / © DRAlber Elbaz leaves Yves Saint Laurent. Tom Ford becomes the artistic director of the house and declares, “Gucci is more Los Angeles. YSL is more Paris. [...] What I want is to steep myself in its spirit in order to dress our period. [...] I want Mr.Bergé and Yves to be proud of me.”
On the anniversary day of the election of François Mitterrand, Stock publishes Pierre Bergé's Inventaire Mitterrand, in which he revisits the late president's life, from his youth to his death in 1996. Without dodging the controversial aspects of his friend's political life, Pierre Bergé highlights Mitterrand's free spirit, his passion for literature and pays tribute to his political strength which “propelled the France of his time into modernity.”
Presentation of the fall-winter haute-couture collection at the InterContinental Hotel. No one knows that the show which features 92 models will be Yves Saint Laurent's last. Pierre Bergé announces one last time:”The show is about to start, merci d'éteindre vos portables” (”thank you for turning off your mobiles.”).
Renaissance and Décolleté Dress Collection
jackets... of wool... tweed... skirts... of velvet... wool cr’pe... blouses... of satin... taffeta... cashmere pullovers... redingotes... of wool... of velvet... cashmere... moire... fur-lined coats... of leather... velvet... faille... smoking dresses... embroidered harlequin jackets... skirts... of satin... dresses of velvet... of faille... of moire...
Yves Saint Laurent gives his first press conference to announce his departure and the closure of his haute-couture house.
I am very proud that women around the world wear pantsuits, cabans, trench coats... I tell myself that I have created the wardrobe for contemporary women, that I participated in the transformation of my times. I did it with clothes, which is surely less important than music, architecture, painting and many other art forms, but whatever the case may be, I did it. You will forgive me for feeling some vanity, but I have thought for some time now that fashion does not only exist to embellish women, but also to reassure them, to give them confidence, to allow them to accept themselves. I have always risen against the fantasies of some people who satisfy their own ego through fashion. I have wanted, on the contrary, to place myself at the service of women. Meaning to serve them. [...]
Finally, I want to thank you, you who are here and those who are not, for having been present through the years. For having supported, understood, loved me. I will not forget you.
- Yves Saint Laurent
The house will officially close on 31 July 2002.
Sixty technicians worked for a week to set up Yves Saint Laurent's retrospective show at the Centre Pompidou.
2,000 spectators flocked from around the world to attend the event. Catherine Deneuve and Laetitia Casta sang one of legendary French singer Barbara's signature tunes: “Ma plus belle histoire d'amour, c'est vous” (You are my greatest love story).
Many among you already know the models that will be shown. I have the naiveté of believing they might stand the test of time and hold their own in today's world. They've already proved themselves. Other models from this year will accompany them. I would like to thank Mr. François Pinault and express to him my gratitude for allowing me to bring a harmonious end to this wonderful adventure and for believing, as I did, that this House's haute couture must end with my departure.
Yves Saint Laurent - Press conference, 7 January 2002
On June 1st 2008 at 11.10pm, Yves Saint Laurent passed away at his Paris home as the result of a glioblastoma (brain tumour) detected 14 months previously.
A funeral service was held on June 5th, in the presence of the President of the Republic, at the Eglise Saint Roch in Paris. The service was conducted by Père Letteron, the artists’ chaplain.
As “Grand Officier de la legion d’honneur”, Yves Saint Laurent received full military honours outside the church.
On June 11th, in the presence of numerous personalities and friends, Yves Saint Laurent’s ashes were scattered at Villa Oasis, his private residence in Marrakech.
Immediately afterwards, a stele erected in his memory was inaugurated in the Majorelle Gardens. These gardens, open to the public, were donated by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé to a British foundation at the beginning of the 1980s. They receive more than 600,000 visitors every year.
Yves Saint Laurent would have been 72 on August 1st 2008.
