About Yves Saint Laurent
Born in 1936 to a wealthy French family in Algeria, Yves Saint Laurent had a precocious talent as a fashion designer leaving to study in Paris at 17. He showed some sketches to Vogue magazine where they were immediately published, casting him as the new star in the fashion firmament. He was snapped up by Christian Dior and just four years later his brilliance saw take charge as art director, catapulting it back into the limelight. Key collections included the Ligne Trapeze and the "Beat Look" collection using couture techniques to adapt and refine street wear. He left to establish his own couture label in 1962 and his three initials, YSL, came to represent the cutting-edge of fashion trends. For two decades YSL reigned supreme creating collection after collection of landmark trends that quickly found their way from catwalk to high street.

 
They included the chic beatnik look, tweed suits, knitted turtlenecks, the sheer blouse, the jumpsuit, dresses inspired by the abstract artist Piet Mondrian, tight pants, thigh-high boots, heavy costume jewellery, the classic tuxedo suit for women and the androgynous look. Branching out from high fashion, YSL gave his name to an enormous range of luxury products from spectacles to linens to neckties to ready-to-wear lines and in 1964 his first fragrance for women, "Y". The YSL beauty range is now extensive and universally coveted for its high quality ingredients and sense of classic style. Women's fragrances include Opium, Paris, Baby Doll, Cinema, Nu and In Love Again. Men's cologne include Body Kouros, Jazz, YSL Pour Homme and Rive Gauche. The skincare range runs to body care, cleansers, day and night care and eye care. Cosmetics and make-up include mascara, blush and cheek powders, eye colour and liner, lip colour and lipstick, nail care, foundation and complexion enhancer.