Yves Saint Laurent smoking and shorts, Spring 1971 haute couture (Libération). “Les nouvelles vamps,” L’Officiel no. 583 (March 1971). Photo: Dominique Laporte. Image: jalougallery.com.
Yves Saint Laurent’s landmark Spring 1971 haute couture collection, Libération, is 50. For more on the designer’s Libération collection, see my 2015 post here.
Yves Saint Laurent 1971: la collection du scandale. Model: Willy Van Rooy. Photo: Hans Feurer.Yves Saint Laurent Libération collection in Vogue, March 15, 1971. Photo: John Cowan. Image: Vogue Archive.
Saint Laurent unveiled the collection in Paris on January 29, 1971. Licensed Libération patterns were available from Vogue the next season, photographed by the late Frank Horvat.
Vogue 2571 by Yves Saint Laurent (1971) Image courtesy of Paco Peralta.Vogue 2598 by Yves Saint Laurent (1971) Image courtesy of Paco Peralta.
The Libération dress pattern was also seen in this textiles ad:
Knit-Away ad featuring Vogue 2571 by Yves Saint Laurent, 1971.
But the most popular of the two designs was the signature suit. Gianni Penati photographed the pantsuit, made up in black velvet, at the Richard Feigen Gallery in New York.
Black velvet for day: Vogue 2598 by Yves Saint Laurent, Vogue, August 15, 1971. Photo: Gianni Penati. Model: Lynn Woodruff. Image: Vogue Archive.
Saint Laurent’s smoking, reenvisioned as as an embroidered evening jacket, even made the cover of Vogue.
Yves Saint Laurent evening jacket V2598 on the cover of Vogue, January 15, 1972. Photo: Gianni Penati. Model: Lynn Woodruff. Image: Vogue Archive.Vogue 2598 by Yves Saint Laurent (Rive Gauche pants), Vogue, January 15, 1972. Photo: Gianni Penati. Model: Lynn Woodruff. Image: Vogue Archive.Yves Saint Laurent Libération pantsuit in Vogue, March 15, 1971. Photo: John Cowan. Model: Editha Dussler. Image: Vogue Archive.
McCall’s 5567 (1977) Set of full colour iron-on transfers.
This Sunday marked the 50th anniversary of the first Pride march, in New York City, on the one-year anniversary of Stonewall.
Despite being headquartered in New York, the big pattern companies have an uneven record of celebrating Pride — at least visibly, on social media. In past years, I’ve tweeted about this silence.
A search for McCall’s + Pride yields this single tweet from 2018.
It’s not too late for the Big 4, and their new parent company IG Design Group, to show support for LGBTQ+ communities. And virtual Pride in London has only just begun.
