Founded by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé in 1961, shortly after the young designer took up his post at Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent would soon become one of the most prominent and influential haute-couture houses in Paris. They introduced the likes of Le Smoking, the first women's tuxedo in 1966, Mondrian gowns, precious Van Gogh embroideries and the famous Ballets Russes collection.
The book opens with a brief history of the fashion house, followed by a short biography of Yves Saint Laurent before exploring the chronologically arranged collections. Each collection is introduced with a short text revealing its influences, highlighting and illustrating with a gallery of carefully selected catwalk images.