Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent was 17 years old and living in Oran, Algeria when he won a design competition organised by the International Wool Secretariat in Paris. French Vogue editor Michel de Brunhoff saw his sketches and sent him to meet Christian Dior personally. Dior hired him immediately, later saying: "I have found the person who will continue my work." Saint Laurent was 18 years old. Three years later, Dior was dead.

When Christian Dior died suddenly in October 1957, Dior's business partner Marcel Boussac needed to present a collection within weeks to save the house. He asked Saint Laurent to design it. The Trapeze collection, presented in January 1958, was a triumph. The fashion press called it a miracle. Saint Laurent was 21. He had saved the most important fashion house in Paris at an age when most designers were still apprentices.

Saint Laurent's autumn 1960 collection for Dior was inspired by Parisian beatnik culture — black leather jackets, turtlenecks, crocodile skin. The establishment was horrified. Boussac dismissed Saint Laurent while he was completing his military service in the French army. Saint Laurent had a breakdown and was hospitalised. He sued Dior and won damages. With his partner Pierre Bergé and financial backing from American investors, he founded his own house in 1961.

Saint Laurent introduced Le Smoking — a tuxedo suit for women — in 1966. It was scandalous: women were not admitted to many Paris restaurants in trouser suits; one model was turned away from the restaurant where the after-party was held. Saint Laurent repeated the tuxedo in every collection for the next 40 years, saying: "The tuxedo is perfection. There is nothing more to add." He also introduced the safari jacket, the pantsuit, and sheer blouses to women's fashion — democratising sexuality in a way that Chanel had democratised practicality.

Yves Saint Laurent retired in January 2002, delivering a farewell speech in which he spoke openly about depression, addiction, and the solitude of fashion. He died in 2008. The house had been sold to the Gucci Group — later Kering — in 1999. Hedi Slimane renamed the ready-to-wear line simply "Saint Laurent" in 2012, removing "Yves." The decision was widely condemned by the fashion press. The brand's revenue doubled under the new name. Anthony Vaccarello became creative director in 2016, sustaining the growth trajectory. The house that Saint Laurent had founded after a breakdown, and nearly killed with a beatnik collection, was generating billions annually under a name that did not include his first name.