RL Files

Le Smoking: A Homage to Yves Saint Laurent

Helmut Newton's 1975 photo of Le Smoking

Yves Saint Laurent was the most inventive, original and influential of all designers of the 20th century. During the 1960s and 1970s, he popularized fashion trends such as the beatnik look, safari jackets for men and women, tight pants and thigh-high boots, including the creation of a famous classic tuxedo suit for women: Le Smoking suit. He also started mainstreaming the idea of wearing silhouettes from the 1920s, '30s and '40s. He was the first, in 1966, to popularize ready-to-wear with his line Rive Gauche...

He was the costume designer for numerous iconic films ranging from Bunuel's
'Belle De Jour', starring Catherine Deneuve who is wearing Le Smoking for the gala...

Yves Saint Laurent's Le Smoking Tuxedo is no doubt one of the most enduring and powerful fashion creations of the last century. And in the 21st century it continues to appear in today's designers' collections season after season.

Catherine Deneuve has always been his source of inspiration and a good friend...

Every season, designers pay homage to what was one of the most controversial designs when it was debuted in 1966 as part of Saint Laurent's Autumn-Winter Haute Couture collection. When the first YSL examples appeared in 1966 as part of Saint Laurent's 'Pop Art' collection, as a black jacket and trousers with four button down pockets, and a high-waisted satin version over a white organdy blouse, they immediately became alternative to the classic little black dress or evening gown. Instantly adored by a chic collective of style icons like Catherine Deneuve, Francoise Hardy LouLou de la Falaise, Lauren Bacall and Bianca Jagger... Over the next 30 years Saint Laurent reinvented his signature silhouette in hundreds of new and different ways from dress and short versions to jumpsuits and trenches. Today all Saint Laurent's successors from Alber Elbaz to Tom Ford and Stefano Pilati, all ensure that Le Smoking is an inherent feature in every YSL collection…