Yves Saint Laurent Gold Bronze Sequin Mombasa Bag YSL
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Boca Raton, FL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU73018785762
Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent
No one understands sex appeal quite like Tom Ford. When Gucci acquired Yves Saint Laurent in 1999, the Texas-born fashion designer had been Gucci’s creative director for several years and was also named creative director for YSL. Ford designed YSL’s ready-to-wear collection, and his vintage evening dresses, shirts, skirts and other garments for the maison are particularly popular today.
An avowed perfectionist from an early age, Ford was rearranging furniture at the age of six and offering his mother advice on her hair and shoes. The designer, author, film director and chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) is one of the most successful people working in fashion today.
Born in Austin, Ford grew up in the suburbs of Houston and Santa Fe, New Mexico. He briefly attended New York University, where he studied art history before dropping out to pursue acting. He became a regular at Studio 54, with its decadent nightlife later informing his high-octane fashion. He studied architecture at Parsons School of Design before shifting his focus to fashion and spending time at the Parsons Paris campus, graduating in 1985. The rest of the decade he worked for designers Perry Ellis and Cathy Hardwick. In 1990, Gucci’s creative director Dawn Mello hired him as a womens-wear designer.
At the time, the Italian label was better known for leather goods than luxury fashion. It was also nearly bankrupt. After Mello left in 1994, following a Bahrain-based investment group becoming Gucci’s majority shareholder, Ford was named creative director. He soon infused the brand with a fresh sensuality and bold style. His fall 1995 show, in which Kate Moss walked down the runway in an unbuttoned satin shirt, velvet hip-huggers and tousled hair, heralded an exciting, glammed-up era for the once fusty brand. Vogue critic Sarah Mower called it “one of those hitting-in-the-solar-plexus moments.”
As Ford shot to fame, he continued to explore plunging necklines, such as in the black and white looks of the Fall 1996 collection, and sumptuous fabrics like leather and tweed, with the Fall 2000 ready-to-wear collection ranging from sultry silk evening dresses to plush belted coats. He also cranked up the seduction in the provocative ads for the fashion house, particularly with regard to campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent, which Gucci acquired in 1999. Gucci's Fall/Winter 1997 campaign featured Carolyn Murphy grasping Angela Lindvall in what looked like a video still; in another shot, a face pressed against a foot in a lipstick-red heel. Each promoted a vision of modern fashion where women were sexually confident, the materials were luxurious and the styles were fearless.
In 2004, Ford and Gucci president Domenico De Sole left the company after failing to agree on the renewal of their contracts. In 2006, with De Sole as chairman, Ford launched his wildly successful eponymous menswear label. The brand has expanded into womens wear, beauty, accessories — vintage Tom Ford handbags are universally adored by celebrities and collectors alike — as well as eyewear and fragrance, with the unisex Black Orchid introduced in 2006. Ford broke into film directing with the critically acclaimed A Single Man in 2009 and Nocturnal Animals in 2016, continuing to blur the boundaries between fashion and culture.
Find vintage Tom Ford YSL day dresses, handbags and other clothing and accessories now on 1stDibs.
Yves Saint Laurent
French designer Yves Saint Laurent pioneered “cross-design” in fashion, taking inspiration from street trends to modernize haute couture.
Saint Laurent was the first to launch a ready-to-wear label, YSL Rive Gauche Prêt-à-Porter. He was the first couturier to open boutiques for both men and women. Using traditional menswear fabrics and designs for women, Saint Laurent also literally cross-dressed, giving men and women alike chic pant suits, elegant tuxedo jackets and urban safari gear.
By blurring gender-specific design, Saint Laurent empowered individual style while creating a scissor-sharp fashion aesthetic of sensual ease and beauty. Many of his designs are today considered timeless classics. Saint Laurent also consistently used Black models, like Mounia, Iman and Naomi Campbell, and he drew endless inspiration from different ethnicities and cultures, in no small part because of his Algerian roots.
Born to French parents in Oran, Algeria, in 1936, Saint Laurent went to Paris at age 17 to study fashion at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Just two years later, in 1955, his remarkable sketches were shown to Christian Dior, then the world’s reigning couturier, who hired him immediately.
Surprisingly soon thereafter, Dior publicly chose Saint Laurent as his successor, which sadly proved prescient when the fashion legend died unexpectedly, in 1957. A mere slip of a youth, the 21-year-old Saint Laurent was nevertheless up to the challenge. He shook the traditional couture clientele to its core with youthful silhouettes and styles like the A-line trapeze dress that hung with seeming effortlessness from the shoulders, the antithesis of the pinched waists and molded skirts that had been all the rage after the deprivations of World War II.
After a mandated spell in the torturous French military, Saint Laurent suffered a nervous breakdown and was dismissed by Dior in 1962. Out of the ashes rose the Age of Yves. With Pierre Bergé, his then-lover who became his lifelong business partner and friend, the designer founded Yves Saint Laurent YSL to encompass prêt-à-porter, or ready-to-wear. In 1966, they opened the first YSL Rive Gauche women’s boutique in Paris, followed soon thereafter by YSL Rive Gauche for men. Saint Laurent had given birth to a global brand.
His revolutionary Mondrian mini dress from 1965 is a core element of his fashion biography. It is a prime example of how Saint Laurent, an avid art lover and collector, looked to painters, from Goya to Picasso, Ingres to Matisse, for inspiration.
With its pure lines and hues, Mondrian’s ground-breaking 1935 color-block painting Composition C transmutes beautifully into a dress that is highly valued by collectors of contemporary fashion and widely copied commercially to this day. The design is the epitome of Saint Laurent’s aesthetic, requiring a meticulous hand-piecing of each color block so that, despite the body’s curves, the visual plane is as flat as a canvas when the garment is worn. Mondrian’s purity met its match in Saint Laurent.
“I am no longer concerned with sensation and innovation, but with the perfection of my style,” Saint Laurent said four years before retiring, in 2002. After a long period of ill health, he died at his home in Paris on June 1, 2008.
Browse an extraordinary collection of vintage Yves Saint Laurent evening dresses, shirts, handbags and other clothing and accessories today on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Boca Raton, FL
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 2 days of delivery.
- Lanvin Alber Elbaz Fall 2012 Satin Jewel Embellished Convertible Bag ClutchBy Lanvin ParisLocated in Boca Raton, FLRunway F/W 2012 Alber Elbaz's 10th-anniversary collection for Lanvin. Seen in look #49 on the runway and campaign-featured. This bag was a highlight accessory from that season, fe...Category
2010s French Shoulder Bags
- Givenchy Magenta Eel Skin Leather Fringe Shoulder bag, 2009By GivenchyLocated in Boca Raton, FLFor decades, the house of Givenchy captured its luxury status through simple and traditional designs. This classic style began to evolve slowly over the decades to be more daring, wh...Category
Early 2000s French Shoulder Bags
- Salvatore Ferragamo Gancini Multicolor Woven Shoulder BagBy Ferragamo, Salvatore FerragamoLocated in Boca Raton, FLSalvatore Ferragamo Multicolor Woven Shoulder bag. Brown, ivory, creme, sage green and black woven leather shoulder and shopper tote bag with gold...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Shoulder Bags
- Ferragamo Black Creme Leather Bucket Bag, 1990sBy Salvatore FerragamoLocated in Boca Raton, FLSome credit Salvatore Ferragamo as the pioneer who put Italian accessories on the map. While Ferragamo himself solely focused on shoemaking, it would not be until his wife and daughter took over the brand that it would begin producing other fashion items. Ferragamo style captures a traditional essence of Italy while using subtle hints and details to create a more modern design. Presumably from the 1990s, this Ferragamo bucket bag...Category
1990s Italian Shoulder Bags
- Judith Leiber Multicolored Snakskin Beach Ball Shoulder Bag, 1980sBy Judith LeiberLocated in Boca Raton, FLJudith Leiber is internationally acclaimed for her glammed-up, kitschy accessories. Never dull, Leiber’s creations employ deep color combinations and sculpture forms that often refle...Category
1980s Bucket Bags and Drawstring Bags
- Hermès Sac à Malice Palm Tree Bag RareBy HermèsLocated in Boca Raton, FLHermès is the pinnacle of luxury. Constantly evolving since their beginning almost 200 years ago, Hermès not only maintains a portfolio of traditional and timeless design pieces, but they also put forth youthful trendsetting styles that keeps the world of high-fashion exciting. Circa 1988, Hermès launched the sacs à malice...Category
1980s French Shoulder Bags
- Dior Vintage Diorissimo Black Lady Dior Handbag MediumBy Christian DiorLocated in Montreal, QuebecIntroducing this classic style Dior bag called the Lady Dior which was made famous my Lady Diana in the 1990s. This vintage rendition is made of black leather and features oblique mo...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Shoulder Bags
- Gucci Vintage Blue Leather Web Stripes Bucket Shoulder BagBy GucciLocated in Rome, RomeVintage Gucci bucket shoulder bag crafted in navy blue leather. Blue/Red/Blue striped detailing on the upper part of the bag. Silver metal GG - GUCCI logo tab on the front. Magnetic ...Category
1980s Italian Bucket Bags and Drawstring Bags
- Gucci Pink Monogram Canvas Mini Ophidia Crossbody BagBy GucciLocated in Rome, RomeThis beautiful Bag will come with a Certificate of Authenticity provided by Entrupy. The certificate will be provided at no further cost Beautiful GUCCI Ophidia mini crossbody bag...Category
2010s Italian Bucket Bags and Drawstring Bags
- Chanel Heart Small Viola Borsa A TracollaBy ChanelLocated in Torre Del Greco, ITBorsa firmata Chanel, modello Heart, misura media, realizzata in pelle trapuntata viola con hardware oro pallido. Dotata di una chiusura superiore a zip e di una tasca frontale con c...Category
2010s Shoulder Bags
- Chanel Ombre Jumbo Grey Double FlapBy ChanelLocated in London, GBThis Chanel bag is a unique and highly desirable piece, made with great precision from ombre grey leather. It has a double-flap design with a spacious main compartment and two interi...Category
2010s Shoulder Bags
- Gucci Vintage Navy Blue Suede and Leather Shoulder BagBy GucciLocated in Rome, RomeVintage Gucci shoulder bag in navy blue suede and leather. Magnetic button closure on top. Beige leather lining. 1 side zip pocket inside. Adjustable shoulder strap. 'Made in Italy b...Category
1970s Italian Bucket Bags and Drawstring Bags
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
How to Spot a Fake YSL Bag
Counterfeiters know that savvy fashionistas cherish YSL bags. Learn how to tell if yours is the real deal. Of course, you don't have to worry about that on 1stDibs, where every seller is highly vetted.
Quiet Luxury May Be Trending, but These Famous Interiors Prove That Quality and Quirk Endure
Because truly timeless design requires personal vision, transcendent taste, real fortitude and top-notch objects, even if the wider world hasn’t caught on yet.