FASHION Magazine

The YSL Museum opened its doors last week in Paris, but unfortunately the man who launched the project wasn’t there to witness its birth.  Pierre Bergé, Yves Saint Laurent‘s companion and former CEO of the brand  died on September 8th, just a few weeks before he completed his last two endeavours: the Paris museum and the YSL Museum in […]

The post Inside Pierre Bergé’s Last Project, the New YSL Museum appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Though yesterday’s news about Yves Saint Laurent’s name change was met with a torrent of outrage, one person is actually happy with the new direction of the legendary fashion house. Pierre Bergé, the late designer’s long-term business and life partner, is giving his blessing to newly appointed creative director Hedi Slimane’s brand revamp.

Bergé told WWD that Slimane called him several weeks before the announcement yesterday to give him a heads up about the name change from “Yves Saint Laurent” to “Saint Laurent Paris” (though to much of the fashion world’s relief, the YSL logo will remain the same).

“I’m very happy. Anything that makes the house more Saint Laurent is welcome,” he said. “I am happy that Stefano Pilati is gone, just as I was happy when Tom Ford left.”

As we reported yesterday, Slimane’s decision to change the name of the fashion house was an effort to recapture the original spirit of Saint Laurent’s first foray into ready-to-wear in 1966.

Bergé is even standing behind Slimane’s decision to move the quintessentially French line’s creative studio from Paris to Los Angeles, another move that has had some fashion folk foaming at the mouth.

“The creative studio is in a designer’s head, it resides within the person,” said Bergé. “Hedi lives in Los Angeles. He should be left to do fashion in a city he likes.”

While we had mixed feelings about Slimane’s decision to change YSL’s trademark moniker, a stamp of approval from someone who knew Saint Laurent better than anyone should count for something. Who knows—maybe this heralds a new era for the brand and will bring back some of the excitement of ’60s Saint Laurent.

It’s no secret that Pierre Bergé, Yves Saint Laurent’s former partner and business advisor, adores Hedi Slimane. The mogul would famously exclude then-designer Stefano Pilati from YSL parties and invite Slimane in his place. Nevertheless, Bergé thinks Slimane’s got some big shoes to fill (on the scale of a Nobel Prize–winner, no less), telling T Magazine:

“It’s a great problem, very complicated, to recreate the work of a genius. Like trying to rewrite Faulkner. To put your stamp on the name of Yves Saint Laurent requires someone who has talent, conviction, rigor, a demanding nature and a great sense of colour.”

Congratulations are in order. Our own Jeremy Laing, who has been announced as one of six finalists for the 2011 ANDAM Prize. The organization (the National Association for the Development of the Fashion Arts) is focused on assisting young designers internationally, the winner receiving €200,000 (about $280,000) as well as year long mentorship with Ralph Toledano, a former managing director at Chloé and Karl Lagerfeld.

It is a rare occasion indeed for Torontonians to rub shoulders with a fashion titan like Yves Saint Laurent‘s longtime partner, and co-ounder of YSL Rive Gauche, Pierre Bergé. But rub shoulders they did–an elite group, anyway–at the after party for the world premiere of Pierre Thoretton‘s documentary, L’amour fou. The film, which traces Saint Laurent’s career through the lens of his relationship with Bergé, and the ultimate auctioning off of their collection of art, furniture and objets, features extensive conversations with Bergé, as well as talks with the designer’s muses Loulou de la Falaise and Betty Catroux, who were staples on the Paris fashion scene.

Elijah Wood and Shirley Manson star in Oliver Peoples 2010 campaign, which will launch this month on the eyewear brand’s website. The campaign include a short film that showcases the two in a retro-style shoot by photographer and director Autumn de Wilde. [WWD]

Daul Kim was reportedly involved in an abusive relationship. The Daily Beast reports that Daul Kim instant messaged a friend a the night before she was found. Apparently she had just had a physical fight with her boyfriend and expressed her inability to leave him despite her friend’s pleas. [The Cut]