Editorial Reviews:
Yves Saint Laurent is arguably the greatest fashion designer of this century. World-renowned since the age of twenty-one, when he shot to fame as the savior of Christian Dior, he has changed the way that women dress with a series of innovations--from trouser suits and leather boots to peasant shawls and safari jackets--now regarded as classics. His business empire has become a role model for the fashion and beauty industries, establishing Rive Gauche as the first chain of ready-to-wear boutiques, launching Opium as a bestselling perfume, and opening up the vast Asian market.Raised in colonial Algeria, Saint Laurent was taken on by Dior as an assistant while studying in Paris as a teenager. Hailed as a hero in France for saving the company after Dior's death, his world collapsed when he was conscripted into the French army. Saint Laurent broke down and was committed to a military hospital where he was brutally treated. His lover, Pierre Berg, rescued him and set him up in his own couture house. Thanks to Saint Laurent's genius and Berg's business acumen, their company dominated fashion throughout the 1960s and '70s, making them fabulously wealthy. But the pressures of fame and the commercial constraints of fashion took a toll on Saint Laurent. The charismatic young man who partied with Rudolf Nureyev and Andy Warhol fell prey to addiction and depression, retreating from the world to live as a recluse, while Pierre Berg became a force in the French arts and in politics. As Saint Laurent withdrew, his financial affairs came under scrutiny, culminating in the political storm over the sale of his empire in 1993 to a state-controlled company. Alice Rawsthorn has followed the fashion industry for many years for the Financial Times of London, and her unique access has enabled her to write this biography, the first full account of Saint Laurent's life and business. Full of the drama and excitement of the fashion scene, Yves Saint Laurent is the remarkable story of a remarkable man.
British journalist Rawsthorn capably depicts the neurasthenic personality of France's famous fashion designer, born in Algeria in 1936. She really excels, however, in her savvy account of the industry's transformation as emphasis shifted from haute couture handmade for the rich to ready-to-wear designed for the (fairly affluent) masses. Saint Laurent and his astute lover/business manager, Pierre Berg launched many trends, including the licensing of his name to adorn everything from sheets to sunglasses. A business book as much as a biography: nice work on both counts.
Customer Reviews:
 Rawsthornes book could be brilliant, without the moneytalk
Alice Rawsthorne has done a breathtaking job researching the complexed life of Yves Saint Laurent. When finishing it I felt wiser about YSL, about the man and his carrier, also about the fashion industry from Diors heydays up until today. I've learned a lot about the industry, the people and the pressure a designer is under during the preporation of an haute couture or a prêt-à-porter presentation. It made me feel happy I chose fashion journalism and not fashion design. If I should say anything negative it would be that Alice Rawsthorns journalistic interest in finance is a bit boring. Especially for the fashion interested readers, that are the ones who will read her book. Imbicile as it may sound, all the money I care about are the ones I spend at Rive Gauche Homme. Emphasis on the financial dealings of a fashion house
This is an interesting book but as the other reviewers have pointed out it emphasizes the financial aspects of the fashion business. It does not delve too much into why the designer was so innovative. Also, you don't get to know the designer very well through the book. If you are interested in the history of the fashion business from the 1960s through the 1990s, this book is for you.
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