EN SCÈNE: YVES SAINT LAURENT
In questa mostra non si celebra solo il disegno di costumi, ma un intero universo che fonda la sua identità sull'idea di un’arte che vive di luce, di colore e di movimento. Yves Saint Laurent non era solo un creatore di vestiti, ma un esploratore di forme, un maestro capace di rendere la moda una vera e propria disciplina performativa.
2024
Review by Emanuele
A rare foray into Yves Saint Laurent's visual universe reveals a selection of sketches that showcase his exploration of the worlds of ballet, theater, and cabaret. This marks a first for the capital, bringing together around sixty sketches from the Yves Saint Laurent Museums in Marrakech and Paris. These works, spanning from 1959 to 1978, reflect a period when fashion converged with other forms of art, where the design of sets and costumes became a reflection on movement, emotions, and the bodies inhabiting the stage.
In these sketches, where the stage is not just a backdrop but almost an organic element, Saint Laurent’s passion for theater comes to life. This love had been with him since childhood, when Algeria became the first stage of his imagination. No longer just a couturier, but a visionary who saw fashion as a means to amplify the deepest expressions of the human body. Each outfit he designed was not just an accessory, but an extension of movement, as emphasized by ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, who recognized that his costumes allowed her to "enter the character." Thus, the design for theater and ballet was not merely about creating aesthetic forms but was an act of communion with the very experience of the performance.
Another intriguing aspect that emerges from this selection of works is the relationship between the sketches and the interpretation of materials. Yves Saint Laurent didn’t just imagine how the bodies of dancers should move; he also conceived the very nature of the materials, thinking about how they would adapt to the performers' gestures. His research did not stop at the aesthetic surface but extended to a true dialectic between the body and the fabric.
The exhibition, held at the Nicola del Roscio Foundation, uses a minimalist setup that enhances the purity of the sketches and fabrics, revealing the expressive power of a design that does not simply represent but interrogates space, form, and light. The white and raw cement of the space, evoking a bare, industrial atmosphere, become complementary elements that highlight the play of lines and colors. Each detail of the sketch thus becomes a challenge between the visible and the invisible, between imagination and physical reality.
The influence of Christian Dior, who throughout his career encouraged Yves to explore the performing arts, is clearly evident in this part of his work. Dior not only recognized the young designer’s natural inclination for theater and ballet but urged him to experiment with the synthesis between fashion and the stage, between costume and movement. This bond seems to have nurtured Yves Saint Laurent's ability to combine elegance with interpretation, form with gesture, producing garments that were not merely clothes, but true tools for transforming the body and psyche.
The connection between these costumes and Saint Laurent's most famous collections — such as the Scandal or the Trapeze Collection — is equally significant. The transparency, geometric lines, and bold fabrics that characterize these creations echo in the sketches for theater and ballet, as if his aesthetic vision were constantly evolving, traversing different languages while retaining its essence. The continuity of these distinctive features also resonates in the current direction of Anthony Vaccarello, who, while interpreting Saint Laurent in a more contemporary way, maintains the house's language: a play of elegance and provocation that aligns with the idea of living, dynamic fashion perfectly anchored to movement.
When contemplating these sketches, one cannot help but recognize a perfect synthesis of art and functionality, a vision that transcends the mere creation of garments, pushing toward a territory where every detail seems to dance, in perfect harmony, with the body and surrounding space.
This exhibition not only celebrates costume design but an entire universe whose identity is rooted in the idea of art that lives through light, color, and movement. Yves Saint Laurent was not just a creator of clothes, but an explorer of forms, a master capable of turning fashion into a true performative discipline.
NICOLA DEL ROSCIO FOUNDATION
Via Francesco Crispi, 18 – Rome
December 6, 2024 – March 7, 2025
Monday to Friday: 11:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Free admission
+39 06-89168819