The exhibit opened in March, yet fast-forward to mid-July and you are still greeted with a steady two-and-a-half hour line outside to get in, making the unaware passerby assume it must be the opening day. Tickets may be purchased in advance to “fast track” the line, but just like Disneyland, you can still expect to wait a good twenty minutes before making it through the giant columns of the Petit Palais on Avenue Winston Churchill.
But do not let this deter you in anyway. It is worth every minute of the wait — if not more. Whether you’re a lover of fashion, film, or art, or whether you just appreciate the beautiful things in life; Yves Saint Laurent was able to inspire, ignite, and titillate for over 40 years through his unique and masterful fashion creations. 
“There are many great artists, but few are truly exceptional in the way that Yves Saint Laurent was,” wrote Bruni-Sarkozy, who had the privilege of wearing his designs and modeling them for him. “He created an inspired, vivid universe that overturned conventions and conformity. With Saint Laurent, art became fashion — and fashion an art.” The exhibition takes you through forty years of wearable art that empowered women with bold, self-confidence and an unapologetic sense of sensual freedom.
Known as the “Prince of Fashion,” Yves Saint Laurent was truly a king when it came to haute couture. Although he may have dressed the wealthy, he disliked more than anything else the snobbery of wealth. In fact, in an interview his friend and later business partner, Pierre Bergé stated Saint Laurent hated designer Cristóbal Balenciaga because he only designed upper-class couture. He has quoted Saint Laurent as saying, “It would be boring if fashion did nothing more than dress rich women.” Hence, he created an eclectic collection that appealed to the universal woman, making him the universal artist of women’s fashion.
The exhibit begins with his career with Dior in 1958, where in his first year as art director, he was able to make Dior’s iconic “new look” appear old fashioned by contrast with his liberating “Trapèze” collection. A replica of his studio is there with original furniture on loan. It is here you see his love affair with art and the mutually beneficial relationship they shared: He took inspiration from the great masters of art, while giving back masterpieces of his own art to the world.
Mondrian, Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh, were not his only inspirations. His bold exotic collections inspired by faraway lands turns the exhibit into a section from a museum of the ages. The famous Mondrian shift dress that was featured on the cover of Vogue in 1965 and on the wish lists of girls from Paris to India, stands in the corner of this haute couture room, next to his first African collection (1967) and his “Lalanne” dresses that are abayas with head scarves, embellished with a bust and waist sculpture of galvanized copper (1969) and inspired by his favorite vacation spot, Morocco.
Saint Laurent was able to change fashion and set trends. For Fall-Winter 1965 Saint Laurent created a line of Piet Mondrian and Poliakoff inspired dresses.
In an interview regarding his collection, the designer said he was flipping through a book of Mondrian when he predicted 1965 fashion. “I suddenly realized that dresses should no longer be composed of lines, but of colors. I realized that we had to stop conceiving of a garment as sculpture and that, on the contrary, we had to view it as mobile,” said Saint Laurent. 
This ability to revolutionize fashion is no more apparent than in his Le Smoking collection, which takes the male tuxedo and reinterprets it for the female, giving women the strong, empowering attributes that come along with it. This forever altered the conventions of formal eveningwear by introducing pants into the female wardrobe and blurring the lines of gender. With 38 models on display against a black backdrop, you can’t help but feel the immortality of his creation. Saint Laurent often played with the male evening suit and his iconic safari jacket of 1966 that was seductively redesigned from classic safari attire. 
A classic film addict, my personal favorite section of the exhibition was the wardrobe of actress Catherine Deneuve, who wore Yves Saint Laurent religiously, both on and off screen. Deneuve was even the face of his perfume, “Opium”.  Luis Bruñel’s provocative film, “Belle de Jour,” (1966) showcased his flair for sophisticated bourgeois fashion with the precise tailoring of his envy-inducing black ciré trench coat.
The last scene is a ballroom that is divinely decorated with ornate evening gowns that range all the way to his last collection in 2002. A little girl’s dream, where the prince is replaced with love for layers of chiffon and organza and the only thing she wants is to be covered in sequins and Saint Laurent tailoring. Showing his muses of Hollywood glamour (Marylyn Monroe), European sophistication (Duchess of Windsor) and American androgyny (Marlene Dietrich and Lauren Bacall), it’s a dance you have to stay past 12, regardless if your dress turns back to rags and your coach back into a pumpkin! The creations come alive and the movement is apparent on the still, white mannequins.
By the end of the fifteen-room exhibition, you are intoxicated by the opulent craftsmanship and innovative foresight of arguably one of the most talented artists who has ever existed. From tunics and pea coats, to jumpsuits and tuxedos, he is the man behind every cut or sketch in fashion. Yves Saint-Laurent once famously stated, “I’ve always had the highest of respect for this profession, which isn’t an art form per se, but which needs an artist in order for it to exist.” 
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