{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O46626"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O46626/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2020MN0713/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2020MN0713/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2020MN0713","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020MN0701","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020MN0687","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2020MN0709","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O46626","accessionNumber":"T.404:1-2000","objectType":"Skirt suit","titles":[{"title":"Ensemble","type":""}],"summaryDescription":"Animal print skirt suit and two matching scarves by Yves Saint Laurent, hailing from the Rive Gauche Autumn-Winter 1990 collection. Yves Saint Laurent began his career at the house of Dior, and after fighting in the Algerian War opened his own fashion house in 1962 with his business partner Pierre Bergé. This ensemble comes from his Rive Gauche ready-to-wear line which was launched in 1966 and sold in his own franchised chain of boutiques. The first Rive Gauche shop opened on the left bank of the River Seine in Paris in 1966, to great success. Offering ready-to-wear at more affordable prices than Saint Laurent's couture designs, slightly lower quality fabrics were used to ensure that the garments remained within the Rive Gauche price range.\n\nPromoting a more democratised approach to fashion, the Rive Gauche line sought to overhaul the outmoded 'total' looks of couture, bringing high fashion to a wider audience through mix-and-match pieces that encouraged experimentation and personalisation. Rive Gauche separates, such as trousers, blouses and skirts, could be combined with other garments that were less (or more)  expensive, allowing women to create a wardrobe of 'essentials' that suited their individual tastes and budgets. Legitimising ready-to-wear as a credible arena for high fashion - without a couture price-tag - Saint Laurent set a precedent which many fashion houses of his era followed.  \n\nAnimal print, particularly leopard print, was a recurring motif used throughout Saint Laurent's couture and ready-to-wear collections of the 1980s. Here, the all-over pattern combines elements of both giraffe and leopard print, in a configuration reminiscent of camouflage. Proposed throughout the collection in various earthy colour-ways, the pattern made it's runway debut two months prior to the presentation of this collection, when it appeared within Saint Laurent's couture Spring-Summer 1990 collection - exemplifying the Rive Gauche philosophy of distilling ideas from the couture collections down into ready-to-wear.   \n\n\n\n","physicalDescription":"Skirt suit and two matching scarves in all-over animal print, by Yves Saint Laurent, Rive Gauche label, 1990. The collarless single-breasted wool jacket fastens to the front with seven buttons. Additional matching buttons adorn the sleeve cuffs. The knee-length, wool wrap skirt features pleating to the waist, and buttons to the side. One of the scarves is of wool, with leather fringing to the both end. The other is of sheer chiffon, and features the Yves Saint Laurent monogramme logo to one corner.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Saint-Laurent, Yves","id":"A2540"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Yves Saint Laurent","id":"A4113"},"association":{"text":"designed for","id":"x41471"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"wool","id":"AAT243430"},{"text":"silk (textile)","id":"AAT243428"},{"text":"leather","id":"AAT11845"},{"text":"cotton","id":"AAT14067"}],"techniques":[{"text":"machine sewn","id":"AAT257463"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"wool, silk, leather, cotton, machine sewn","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"},{"text":"Clothing","id":"THES48975"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2020MN0713","2020MN0701","2020MN0687","2020MN0709"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"018","id":"THES311705"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"018","id":"THES311705"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"018","id":"THES311705"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"018","id":"THES311705"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Jacket","id":""}],[{"text":"Skirt","id":""}],[{"text":"Scarf","id":""}],[{"text":"Scarf","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Paris","id":"x29068"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1990","earliest":"1990-01-01","latest":"1990-12-31"},"association":{"text":"retailed","id":"x30772"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Jill Ritblat","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Weight","value":"1.34","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Jacket, skirt, two scarfs including hanger","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Skirt suit, jacket, skirt and 2 scarves, Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, Paris, 1990","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Ready to wear","id":"THES48866"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.404:1-2000","T.404:2-2000","T.404:3-2000","T.404:4-2000"],"accessionNumberNum":"404","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":2000,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Ritblat catalogue","id":"THES51956"},"number":"277"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Jacket","Skirt","Scarf [1]","Scarf [2]"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-12","recordCreationDate":"2000-08-18","availableToBook":true}}