Yves Saint Laurent Retrospective at the Denver Art Museum

The Yves Saint Laurent Retrospective at the Denver Art Museum is outstanding.  Denver is the only city in the United States to have this collection on display!   This black velvet sheath dress with the pink satin bow was part of his Paris haute couture collection, 1983.  Laurent said, "My favorite color, after black, is pink."

Saint Laurent knew how to design the fundamentals of clothing with flawless indifference to unnecessary details.  He is credited as the first designer to introduce the tuxedo to woman's fashions.  On display are over 30 different Le Smoking (the French term for tuxedo), the first one was designed in 1966.

Such a classic look and I found that many of the outfits were timeless.

His African Collection with a lot of wood beads.

In 1973, Saint Laurent introduced the peasant look.  He made it look chic by using black velvets and colorful satins.  This gypsy look became very popular.  I remember the big hoop earrings, bangle bracelets and layered skirts.

In 1965 Saint Laurent launched a collection that paid tribute to many of the artist that he admired.  This 1988 white tuile wedding dress with white cotton pique is homage to the works of Georges Braque with the doves in flight.

I was in Barcelona last fall and one of my favorite places that I visited was the Ceramic Museum.  And I fell in love with this Braque ceramic plate.

I like the tribute to Henri Matisse with these multi-color appliqued bold leaves in satin and gazar.  The body of the dress is black velvet and moire.  1980.

A tribute to Piet Modrian.  A 1965 cocktail dress made of ecru wool jersey with black, grey, red and yellow jersey inlays.

A tribute to Pablo Picasso: 1979, orange moire top, multicolored applique patchwork skirt and a black moire knotted belt.
Saint Laurent also paid tribute to Vincent Van Gough and Fernand Leger with his evening dresses.
One part of the collection showcases clothing of famous women who wore his clothes; Lauren Bacall, Betty Cartroux, Catherine Deneuve, Princess Grace of Monaco, Nan Kempner, Paloma Picasso, Diana Vreeland and the Duchess of Windsor.
There are over 200 haute couture outfits on display from his collection. The show is definitely worth seeing!  You only have a few more week left to see the show, for it ends on July 8th.