Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent born in Algeria in 1936 was one of the most influential and controversial fashion designers of all time. Perhaps one of the most iconic fragrance quotes of all time, he famously said "I prefer to shock rather than to bore through repetition". His iconic looks from Le Smoking, women’s tuxedos and the Safari suits also informed his perfumes. He was the first designer to feature multi-cultural models in the 1960s. As a young man, Yves Saint Laurent left Algeria for Paris to work for designer Christian Dior and in 1966 launched his own brand and rose to great fame as the first (then) living designer to receive a solo exhibition in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1983.