Yves Saint Laurent's iconic designs

Yves Saint Laurent at his worktable surrounded by sketches, fabric swatches, sketch pencils and photos that inspired him when conceiving a collection. The late editor-in-chief of Vogue, Diana Vreeland, nicknamed him the Pied Piper of Fashion. "Whatever he does, women of all ages, from all over the world, follow," she once said.

His first solo collection for Dior in 1958 featured the trapeze dress with narrow shoulders and wide, swinging skirt — a departure from the cinched waists that were the fashion before. Saint Laurent is seen here trying a hat on a model wearing the trapeze dress in his workshop in Paris, France, aided by his assistant, Marguerite Carre.

Considered one of the most important pictures in fashion history, this photograph titled "Dovima and the Elephants" was shot by photographer Richard Avedon in 1955. The stunning gown worn by the model was designed by Saint Laurent for Dior.

A model shows off a version of Saint Laurent's famous Le Smoking, the creation that would seal his reputation as a revolutionary designer. This one was part of his 1967 Spring-Summer haute couture collection.

"Nothing is more beautiful than a naked body," Saint Laurent once said. Instrumental in creating the nude look, he made the female chest visible with the innovative use of see-through material called cigaline. One standout example was a fully transparent chiffon dress with a belt made of ostrich feathers that he created in 1968. In this picture, the dress features shimmering zigzag patterns.

In 1965, Saint Laurent designed six cocktail dresses inspired by the paintings of Piet Mondrian. "Mondrian is purity and one can go no further in purity in painting. This is a purity that joins with that of the Bauhaus. The masterpiece of the 20th century is a Mondrian," the designer once raved.

In this photo from 1969, Saint Laurent is flanked by two of his muses, Betty Catroux, left, and Loulou de la Falaise, outside his Rive Gauche boutique in London. All of them sport his safari style designs made of khaki cotton, which quickly became comfortable additions to women's summer wardrobes. The safari look remains a style staple to this day.

Bianca Jagger's bespoke YSL suit for her May 1971 nuptials to Mick Jagger in St. Tropez epitomized the seductive appeal of Saint Laurent's Le Smoking jacket. She wore it without a shirt underneath — and a large, veiled sun hat. A new benchmark in bridal wear was set.

French actress Catherine Deneuve was 22 years old when she first met Saint Laurent. Married to the British photographer David Bailey, she was scheduled to meet Queen Elizabeth and had asked Saint Laurent to dress her. That was the start of an enduring friendship that saw him dressing her for future events and films.

This 1988 van Gogh jacket made out of yellow organza is lined with satin and yellow silk, and is entirely embroidered with glass beads, sequins, ribbons and pearls. It is thought to have taken haute couture embroiderers at Maison Lesage, one of the greatest embroidery houses in the world, more than 600 hours to stitch by hand. It was sold via auction for €382,000 in 2019.

"I have been to every country in my dreams," Saint Laurent once said. "All I have to do to blend into a place or a landscape is to read a book, or look at a picture, and then use my imagination." In fact, the designer sometimes created collections without having visited the countries on which they are based.

Long before the clarion call for diversity in the 21st century, Saint Laurent had already sent models of color down his catwalk, including Iman and Katoucha Niane. Supermodel Naomi Campbell, credits Saint Laurent for having had a hand in making her the first Black model to grace the cover of French Vogue.

A permanent display of the French designer's haute couture creations can be viewed at two different museums — in Paris and Marrakesh — dedicated entirely to his works. This picture features mannequins in Saint Laurent's eye catching designs at the Marrakesh museum, which opened in 2017 after about four years of construction.

French model Laetitia Casta (left) and Saint Laurent's friend and muse, French actress Catherine Deneuve, flank the designer at his final haute couture show in Paris in 2002. "I always wanted to put myself at the service of women. I wanted to accompany them in the great movement for liberation that occurred last century," he said back then.