The only child of a comfortably off San Francisco family, Nan Field Schlessinger studied at Connecticut College. She met Thomas L. Kempner at the beginning of the 1950s. They married and had three children (Thomas Jr, James, Linda). After living in London they moved to Park Avenue, New York.
Nan worked for French Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, and subsequently represented Tiffany & Co and Christie's International.
Nan was to become one of the most admired and elegant women of New York. This passionate lover of Haute Couture built up an impressive collection of more than 1000 pieces, including 376 by Yves Saint Laurent.
She died on July 3rd 2005. In December 2006 New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art paid tribute to her with an exhibition entitledn : "Nan Kempner : an American chic."
Nan
Kempner was faithful to Saint Laurent as a woman is faithful to her
lover. As such her relationship with fashion went far beyond that of
other women.
Fashion played an essential role in her life. Let us
not be mistaken : it was not a question of money but of an intimate
relationship she had elevated into a mutual passion. Like Madame von
Mecks with Tchaikovsky, she was both muse and patron. A patron of
creation. Hers was a unique way of dialoguing with couturiers.
She
did not merely wear clothes, she sported the very personality that had
influenced their creation. With Yves Saint Laurent in particular, she
was successively Natasha Rostov, Anna Karenina and the Duchess of
Guermantes.
She played all these characters with exceptional
talent. She demonstrated, better than anyone else, that true elegance
is the result of the mysterious alchemy that exists between a dress and
the woman that wears it.
Yves Saint Laurent et Nan Kempner / Yves Saint Laurent and Nan Kempner
© Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent | Mentions légales | Conception 2exVia avec MasterEdit®
© Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent
