YSL and Pierre Cardin

Yves Saint Laurent was one of the exhibitions that I got to see in Paris, featuring outfits throughout the years, as well as jewelry, gloves, and other accessories. YSL took couture and made it ready to wear which was clear through the progression of pieces in the exhibit. There were over 300 dresses, drawings, and a background film showing. Of course the gift shop was just as epic, with posters available representing the collections from many different years. Here is the website of the exhibition for more pictures and information:

http://www.yslretrospective.com/

Another museum I had the honor of visiting, on June 16, and receiving a personal group tour was Pierre Cardin. The tour consisted of hundreds of his pieces, including space age outfits to exquisite jewelry to interesting pieces of furniture that I would kill to have at home! Pierre Cardin was once a cabinet maker, although he made these after becoming a fashion designer. There were 210 staged models throughout the museum all the way from when he worked with Christian Dior for four years. 1952 was the year he created the jacket that made him popular in the states. Many of the pieces had shapes molded in the fabric, which he did by heating the synthetic fiber material so the shapes would not wear out. He also tended to insert hard and plastic materials in his clothes in order to create outstanding shapes in the garment. From 1966 til 1968, Jean Paul Gualtier inspired his collection where after he created the body suits for men and women. Overall the style was very avant-garde and looked very space age-esque.

Pierre Cardin Museum