There are several saints associated with fashion: St Catherine, patron saint of lacemakers, and St Homobonus, patron saint of tailors. The Italians have Pier Giorgio Frassati, considered the “modern patron of style”, cited as “dressing for God”. So why not nominate the late, great French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent as fashion’s own patron saint?
Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) revolutionised 20th-century fashion by bridging the gap between haute couture and ready-to-wear, introducing a design style that redefined the wardrobe of the modern woman. By blending sophisticated elegance with a bold, contemporary, often androgynous edge, he empowered femininity and gender fluidity well before it was fashionable to do so.
Born in 1936 in the then-French colony of Algeria, he moved to Paris as a teenager. By the age of 17, the lanky, bespectacled prodigy was designing for Christian Dior, becoming the world’s youngest couturier.
In 1966, Yves and his life partner, Pierre Bergé, visited Morocco and fell in love with the city of Marrakech. That same year — 60 years ago — he launched the first luxury ready-to-wear line to bear a couturier’s name, beginning the “Rive Gauche” revolution and making his designs more accessible while moving away from strict traditional couture.
The Marrakech Revelation
During the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, we were given a private tour by the museum’s Digital Communications Officer, Achraf Meftahi.
First up: Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech (mYSLm), Jardin Majorelle, and the Berber Museum, home to Bergé’s personal collection of Berber artefacts.
The cultural hub in the upscale Majorelle neighbourhood is alive with plant life and exhibitions kept fresh by a lively line-up. “Before Yves visited Marrakech, he worked only in black and white. Marrakech changed his palette and opened the designer’s eyes to the ‘astonishingly vivid colours’ that from then on heavily influenced Saint Laurent’s work,” explains Achraf.
Saint Laurent famously said of Marrakech: “The city taught me colour, and I embraced its light, its insolent mixes, and ardent inventions.”
Sashaying in, as we did, on a languid jasmine- and orange-blossom-scented afternoon, we met the dapper museum director, Alexis Sornin of luxury group Kering (which owns YSL). He joined the institution from François Pinault’s art museums in Italy.
The Pierre Bergé/Saint Laurent couple’s first home in the city was the modest “Snake House” in the bustling souk of the Medina. Jardin Majorelle is, and was, a lush garden the visionary couple purchased to save from developers — and one that is now a hugely popular tourist attraction.
While you can stay at the couturier’s luxurious Tangier vacation home, now owned by British designer Jasper Conran and reopened as a 12-suite hotel, visits to the couple’s private Villa Oasis in Marrakech “are limited and only possible by special arrangement with applicable fees,” Achraf says. I am secretly pleased these two public figures have posthumously maintained privacy in an increasingly invasive world.
A House of Memory and Colour
The red-brick tones of the museum exterior echo the nearby desert colours. Its Berber architectural elements nod to the drama of the Atlas Mountains on the horizon.
Pilgrimage Season
For global cultural nomads, the 1-54 African Art Fair in Marrakech is an annual February pilgrimage. As Europe freezes over, 1-54 Marrakech promises sultry afternoon private viewings at museums and collections, creative pop-ups, and installations and collaborations staged in gardens, on rooftops, and in interiors — delights for all the senses.
Now on View
At Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech (mYSLm):
American photographer David Seidner (1957–1999), who had a profound impact on fashion and portrait photography at the end of the 20th century, is the subject of David Seidner — Yves Saint Laurent, on view from 15 September 2025 through 2 August 2026.
YSL and His Dogs — on view until 29 September 2026.
Yves Saint Laurent Onstage, dedicated to his costumes and set designs for theatre, music hall, and ballet —ends 5 January 2027.
