Yves Saint-Laurent at work at his drawing table, 1961.
Born in 1936 in Oran (Algeria), Yves-Mathieu Saint-Laurent moved to Paris at the age of 17. He started out working as a design assistant at Christian Dior in 1955. Following Dior's sudden death in 1957, he took over the management of the Dior house.
In 1958, he met Pierre Bergé, who was to become his partner and business partner. Pierre helped Yves set up his own couture label in 1961. This photo shows Yves working on his first collection, which was an instant hit.
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