Today is the first of August. As I locked the door of my house behind me, the date echoed with its power and clear message... This is Yves Saint Laurent's birthday.
Although the house founded over fifty years ago still reigns with its own level of supremacy, it is his touch that will forever be longed for.
The humble boy from the Algerian town of Oran.
The bespectacled youth. The tortured soul. The genius. The derided and misunderstood.
The leader. The innovator. The political activist, albeit unwittingly.
The House of Love. One word. One power - LOVE.
In the rarefied world of the couture his sense of genius has stood triumphant. The final guardian of a lost age sadly left us a little over four years ago.
His legacy remains clearly all around us... The safari suit. The tuxedo for women (aptly named "Le Smoking").
The original scion of the sexuality and undertones of carnal, illicit desire of the 1970s.
A man who breathed his art, and exhaled almost a sense of palpable insanity so crystalline and lucid in its creative magnitude... We are left wondering who the truly sane were.
After all, aren't we (all) just a chemical reaction from madness?
The inimitable Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune proudly declared in 1993 that "...if all the world was to lose the references of popular culture and history, and yet we were to maintain the works of Yves Saint Laurent, future generations would know where the world stood in terms of history and culture. From women's liberation to sexual equality and revolution, art and culture..."
Pierre Bergé the Scorpio, the fearless brains behind the business and longtime partner in business and life with the Angelic Schoolboy also poignantly is quoted as saying: I don't know that fashion is an art... But he IS an artist..!
Van Gogh, Braque, Picasso, The hippie trail, sexual desire, masculine design and lifestyle, Segovia. Just some of the influences that have defined styles of the times.
Ah, our beloved Yves Saint Laurent. How we celebrate the towering genius that IS you, a loving, sensitive, yet eternal flame to burn in our minds.
Your sense of impeccable design, matched only by your sheer force of creative passion.
We thank you on your special day for having enriched this world. After all, my idol Miuccia Prada wore your couture to student rallies and demonstrations in Milan.
Aside from yourself, who else would have created the wardrobe that interwove such diametrically opposed strains of political trains of thought?
May you watch over the house that bears your name. May you influence the world's style once more, from the radiantly lit and sacred space you find yourself in.
Happy Birthday to the man that fell in love with a city, claimed its name, and lived life with a love of beauty and freedom.
Many happy returns, forever.
You are missed and loved, and I dedicate a few words to your memory.
Tearfully yours,
Gougou.
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