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Yves Saint Laurent, designer

Suit, ca. 1980

Description

Maker

  • Yves Saint Laurent, 1936-2008, French, designer
  • Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, established 1966, French, design label

Title

Suit

Year

ca. 1980

Medium

Satin weave with guipure (machine-made metallic lace trim) and metal piping

Type

  • Fashion,
  • Costume

Credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Miles Fiterman

Object Number

1988.025.3

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Luminous Lace

January 27 - July 30, 2017

This pantsuit features real metal piping and golden guipure—or embroidered lace—trim. The highwaisted trousers and strong shoulders suggest the “power suit” silhouette of the 1980s, but the ensemble’s inspiration comes from the traditional costume of the bullfighter, the traje de luces ( “suit of lights”). Just as the bullfighter in his golden costume seeks to attract the bull, a woman wearing this striking pantsuit would similarly draw all eyes to her. In both instances, gold imbues the wearer with a sense of power.

Related

Yves Saint Laurent, designer

Trousers, ca. 1980

Yves Saint Laurent, designer

Jacket, ca. 1980

More objects +

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Suit with the accession number of 1988.025.3. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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