Autumn Winter 1965-1966

Paris

Iconic Mondrian dress by Yves Saint Laurent Haute Couture (attributed to) dating from the 1965-1966 period. Sleeveless cocktail dress in off-white wool jersey with black jersey inlay, revealing no seams. The back zip is concealed by a black jersey tab, invented by Azzedine Alaïa in the prototype he made in 1965 for Yves Saint Laurent. Model no. 102 in the haute couture show programme at 30 bis Rue Spontini in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. Lined in champagne Duchesse satin, with a detached label mark the size of the master's famous Couture label. No defects to report. Very good colour and condition.

Dimensions: Equivalent to size 36 France. Shoulders 36 cm, chest 92 cm, waist 86 cm, hips 95 cm, height 98 cm.

Similar models: Metropolitan Museum of Art - New-York (C.I.68.60.1) - Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, Paris - Museum of Bath, model having belonged to the dancer Margot Fonteyn.

The autumn-winter 1965 haute couture collection was presented on 6 August. Of the one hundred and six models in the collection, a large proportion respected the classic tradition of haute couture. However, the Mondrian dresses were to change the links between fashion and art forever, transforming a painting into an animated work in a kind of ‘manifesto’. Yves Saint Laurent made Mondrian's work his own, transforming a two-dimensional painting into a three-dimensional garment with the strength and power of the work. The photos of dress 102 immortalise the model Paule de Mérindol in 1965 (photos by Georges Saad), wearing shoes with buckles by Roger Vivier and a helmet in the style of André Courrèges. This two-colour black and white design, with the cross perfectly centred, was used again by the couturier in the ballet Notre-Dame de Paris, which he created with Roland Petit on 11 December 1965 (costume of Phoebus and the soldiers). Serge Liagre